The Art of French Pastry

JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER - Experience the magic of French baking and elevate your pastry skills to new heights with this invaluable guide from the award-winning pastry chef and co-founder of the renowned French Pastry School.

What does it take to perfect a flawless éclair? A delicate yet buttery croissant? To pipe dozens of macarons? The answer is: an intimate knowledge of the fundamentals of pastry.

By teaching you how to make everything from pâte à choux to pastry cream, award-winning pastry chef Jacquy Pfeiffer builds on the basics, explaining the science behind the ingredients, how they interact with one another, and what your hands have to do to transform them into pastry. Indulge in exquisite sweet recipes as well as traditional Alsatian savory treats, including, such as:

- Brioche
- Napoléons / Mille-Feuilles
- Cream Puffs
- Elephant ears / Palmiers
- Beignets
- Pretzels
- Kougelhof
- Tarte Flambée
- Warm Alsatian Meat Pie

Full of gorgeous photography and Pfeiffer’s accompanying illustrations, The Art of French Pastry is a master class in pastry from a master teacher.

Jacquy Pfeiffer’s career began with an apprenticeship in Strasbourg, Alsace, at the famous Jean Clauss Pâtisserie. In 1995, Pfeiffer cofounded the French Pastry School in Chicago with Chef Sébastien Canonne, M.O.F., where their team is devoted to imparting excellence. Pfeiffer has participated in many of the world’s most prestigious pastry competitions, placing in the World Chocolate Masters in Paris in 1996 and at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in Lyon, France, in both 1995 and 1997. He was named one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America by Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design for two consecutive years and was inducted into the Académie Culinaire de France in 2003. In 2009, Pfeiffer was featured in Kings of Pastry, a documentary by internationally acclaimed filmmakers D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus. Shortly after, he was inducted into Dessert Professional’sPastry Hall of Fame and the Chicago Culinary Museum’s Chefs Hall of Fame. Today, Pfeiffer is the Academic Dean for Student Affairs at the French Pastry School, widely considered one of the leading pastry institutions in the world.

Martha Rose Shulman is the award-winning author of more than twenty-five cookbooks, including The Very Best of Recipes for Health, Mediterranean Harvest: Vegetarian Recipes from the World’s Healthiest Cuisine, Mediterranean Light, Provençal Light, and Entertaining Light. She writes the daily Recipes for Health column for the online New York Times, is a founding contributor of the website Zester Daily, and is the co-owner of the Venice Cooking School in Los Angeles. She has coauthored books with pastry chef Sherry Yard, Wolfgang Puck, Dean Ornish, and Mark Peel, and has collaborated with the Culinary Institute of America on two books, Culinary Boot Camp and Spain and the World Table. Learn more about Martha at martha-rose-shulman.com.