The stunning Gateaux: Sweets presents 51 "light, harmonious, balanced, and elegant" recipes by Mori Yoshida, award-winning Japanese pastry chef. Caroline Faccioli's tantalizing photographs complement detailed instructions that transform French confections with distinctive touches--like a black sesame Paris-Brest requested by the Japanese embassy when they wanted a dessert that would showcase a Japanese ingredient. Yoshida admits his procedures require "skill and experience." Though not for the faint of hearth, bakers with patience and desire may find "a path of delight."
Gateaux is organized around six parts of the day, starting with morning. Begin with a "fastidious" short crust, custard-filled Parisian flan. Perhaps then a classic croissant with delicate proofing and water bath control. By 11a.m., apricot or nectarine tartlets may follow. Noon delights include an extravagant hazelnut millefeuille and the evening sublime showstopper is the cover's elegant Mont Blanc in which "form follows flavor."
Measurements are metric; step-by-step IKEA-like illustrations are handy. Despite what might seem like daunting exercises there is a certain casualness to Yoshida's stringent directions. Gateaux is an exquisite gift to be welcomed, savored, and cherished. --Robert Allen Papinchak, freelance book critic