Pierre Hermé Macaron: The Ultimate Recipes from the Master Pâtissier

I had to get a copy of this book which are recipes of Pierre Herme's where he learned how to make macarons with Gaston Lenotre' to his flavorful journey of making exquisite flavorful flavors: traditional, savory and out of this world. This book is for the experienced bakers, pastry chefs and other foodies who want to make these macarons for enjoyment, entertaining, etcetera. When I received this book as the first reviewer thought. This was a bigger book than I thought which may resemble to the ph10 which is similar in thickness and size. I was so excited about it as I glanced through the recipes, I found out the measurements are labeled in cups for the North American market and in grams. The author stressed using g is the most precise measurement you can use and is easier modifying recipe yields. The book looks very elaborate, and is presented well from macaron recipes categorized in different groups: Introduction (History of the Macaron plus how Pierre Herme' learned the craft of making macarons from Pastry Chef Gaston Lenotre' in Paris at the age of 14 to his journey of making the traditional flavors of lemon, coffee, caramel and raspberry to his journey of making unique flavor combinations when he worked on his own and open his own pastry shops in mid-2000s. I liked the book layout which introduces his personal stories and food experiences about making the macaron, the recipes, and the following pages follow colorful and stylish photography how each macaron is crafted and made. The recipes are written in a concise way to fit 2 to 3 pages, and they want to include stylish and stunning photography. CONS: The one thing I don't like is when I read the recipes -- he combines the liquefied eggwhites to 220g, when it should be separated into 2 equal parts that are stated on his past books. Note: when you the recipes for making macaron shells. Always divide the 2 equal parts of 110g Liquefied eggwhites separately in 2 cups or bowls. In the instructions, when you read how the eggwhites are prepared. 220g of eggwhites are separated into 2 equal parts, Then it is refrigerated for 7 days prior to making the macarons. Second,there are only few ingredients that only available in France. PROS: *Then at the beginning of the book, he states that he uses blanched almonds that need to be dried for 2 days at room temperature prior making macarons. Traditionally done in French pastry. Time and patience is an essence here when making stunning pastries. Also, I noticed that some of the ingredients are only found on specific regions like olive oil, mandarin oranges, rose essence -- but the author also gives you other options to use other sources on what you may have available locally. So this is no biggie. The methods that are used are practical either for a chef and an experienced home baker. The yields makes 144 1.5-inch macaron shells or 72 macarons. So this is pretty big for an experienced baker, and recipes can be decreased or increased depending on your desire to make these macarons. There is also a kitchen step-by-step guide inserted at the back of the book. The ganache recipes can be prepared using a bain-maire (double boiler), or a microwave. This book features traditonal, Pierre Herme' Classics, and his own signature and popular collections. Some are old from his pastry books and there are others that are new especially the Infinitement Chocolate. Caraquillo, Jardin d' automne, and many others. MY TIPS: Liquefied eggwhites means that if you used fresh eggs. You just have to separate eggwhites and eggyolks. Put 110g eggwhites in a cup or mug. Then cover them in plastic wrap tightly, and then poke holes on the plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 7 days before making the macarons. FINAL WORD ABOUT THIS BOOK: For those, who collect Macaron or Pierre Herme' books or who are experienced bakers who would like to refresh their flavor combinations of macarons -- this is the book for you. I am considered both and trying to find multiple flavors that go well together and are balanced in five tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. This book is well presented in Pierre Herme's way as he is the architect of how unique flavors go well together with nuances coming from fruits, vegetables, spices and chocolate. His travels and the discovery of flavors from different countries has expanded his palate and resembles them making his pastry creations at his pastry shops. His regular customers wanted more and try out new flavors and pastries that he sells. He has an open mind, and is a modest pastry chef as he likes to entice his clients with flavors that are memorable yet different. But also teaches in international events, and writes books to pass down the knowledge for a generation that loves these little pastries. Pierre Herme does it in a fashionable way, yet the photography is absolutely stunning. The recipes are targeted for the experienced bakers, pastry chefs, food stylist and for foodies who like to engage on exploring more unusual flavor combinations and yet enjoy these little pastries called the macaron-- The Ultimate Macaron.

I have had this book for a year or two and it's well loved. The recipes are wonderful, but there are some caveats which I will address below. Positives: First, there is a basic macaron recipe that is standard and may vary slightly with a few of the macaron recipes, but not much. They also include a picture step by step for that basic recipe. It is the recipe that uses the sugar syrup to help make your mixture more stable. I am in a very dry climate and am alot slower than the professional chefs so I made a slight change... I get the unmixed egg whites ready (with food color, or in some cases flavoring) but I do not put them into the mixture until I add the meringue part. That said, I can pretty much count on these turning out every time. ...so yay! The caveats: There are just some ingredients you are not going to find, or be able to order in the US, but there are many you can. You can also try new things by substituting similar combos with locally available ingredients. I also mix and match the fillings and the macaron shells..like I love to make the Macaron Cafe filling with the Macaron Infiniment shells...so good…and you can get the special Trablit coffee extract on Amazon for not too much. I also found that it is important to be sure to use the best heavy cream for ganaches etc.… The recipe provides the % of fat you should look for (or try to get as close as you can). There are differences. For example, my local store brand of heavy cream actually has a lower percentage of fat than Shamrock Farms heavy cream. The local is closer to what the book looks for with a light cream. I also purchased food grade cocoa butter that I add to some of my chocolates (and then adjust the final mixture to the appropriate amount of grams required by the recipe). This is just to bring the chocolates as close as possible to the fat % the recipe book mentions. Making the fat adjustments for cream and chocolate help the fillings that use these ingredients to turn out well. My macarons are no Pierre Herme' but I do get alot of good feedback from friends and family who ask after the macarons all of the time and say that they are much better than they have found other places... so I think the book has helped me alot and I would recommend it to help improve your macaron baking.

The big is bigger in size than I thought. The macaron pictures are beautiful plus it's nice to see the inside of the macaron and not just the outside. The macaron flavors are in categories, "My new classics, My fetish flavor combinations, my style is taste, the veloutes collection, the jardins". The majority of the flavors are in french but by reading the description or looking at the photo one can figure out the flavor. The instructions in making the macarons are long but helpful. Included with the book is a kitchen guide to making macaron shells and chocolate ganache step by step which is very helpful. If you are a fan of macarons this is a nice book to add to your macaron book collection. Learn from the master!

Just received the book this morning at the doorstep! The book is in very good condition and looks as new too! The graphic of the cover of the recipe book look great and appealing. The content of every recipes in the book is explains very detailed. This is definitely a recipe book for home bakers and professional chefs who loves to make macarons. Plus you can find a illustration of step-by-step guide in the book for those who are new to macaron making. I am loves how this book is presented with beautiful graphic plus the way of the recipes are written. This is the recipe book you need to have in your list of collection if you are thinking of perfecting your macarons.

This is a great book with many interesting recipes from Pierre Hermé. If you ever tried his macarons, you will definitely want to do the same one on your own kitchen! This book is full of beautiful pictures (which inspire me in my food photography), good recipes (as for me - clear written, and step-by-step guide to techniques is a good plus to those, who want to know how to do macarons right). Yes, there are some ingredients which is not the regular one from your nearest grocery store, but on the other hand, macarons is something more complicated then regular sponge cake! And if you want some interesting, multi-sided taste - so you need something special inside (which you could always find on Amazon). And you could always replace some ingredients with another one, just google it for replacement, or find recipe for it! Also - grind your own almond flour gives you a little better taste, but if you take almond flour from the nearest store it will also taste great! The art of cooking is not just mixing together ingredients, it is all about inspiration, new ideas, enjoyment of the process, new techniques and knowledges - this is all about this book and macarons. I highly recommend this book! P.S. Attached photos show recipes from the book - Chloe, Infiniment Mandarine, Chocolate *This review was written by my wife

The most beautiful photos of macarons I have ever seen, very straight forward recipes that are easy to follow. Wish Mr Herme mentioned what brand of food coloring he uses (not all are created equal) and some other explanation of products - a glossary at the back would have been useful. Having lived across from his shop in London, it is nice to be able to recreate at home some of my favorite flavors.

Great book

The headline is not meant to be sarcastic. :-) If you are new to macarons, I highly recommend Christophe Felder's Patisserie, because he goes into greater detail for how to make the shells in two ways (the French type meringue and the Italian type), and doesn't require aging the egg whites. I became proficient in his methods before getting this book. The main reason I got this book was to see Herme's filling ideas, since I'd been in one of his shops in Paris and would like to have more of that sort of stuff without paying air fares and high prices for shops that have to pay rent close to the Champs-Elysees. And I won't be able to make some of the flavors in this book - Sicilian lemons aren't exactly available in Colorado, and I doubt I can get my hands on small quantities of the single-source chocolates he likes to showcase. But Herme doesn't have easy access to Palisade peaches either, or Texas Ruby Red grapefruit for that matter. I guess it helps that I've lived both in southern France and in Scotland and have learned to love the local foods available in those places - now I see some of these recipes as homages to local inspirations that provoke me to look at the ingredients around me and see what I can do with them. But I just might be ordering some melange pain d'epice from the supplier he recommends, since that is different from American gingerbread spice mix and spices can be shipped internationally... And of course there are many filling recipes that call for ingredients found easily in America.

Me encanto este libro, es perfecto

Fantastic! Great source of inspiration. Fabulous recipes. Wonderful pictures. Removable baking instructions with illustrations included, which comes in very handy when following the recipes.

Nada a apontar

Great addition to a cooking book collection! Amazing pictures and every recipe is very well explained.

Bellissimo a partire dalle immagini. Ricette ben spiegate anche se alcuni ingredienti nom sono facilissimi da reperire. Un ottimo libro scritto da un grande maestro