Architexture de la Pâtisserie

The pun (architecture and texture) in this book’s title speaks directly to pastry chef Aurélien Cohen’s obsession with texture in his desserts, as well as to his precise methodical construction of them. 

Cohen, who operates a pasty shop and school on the outskirts of Paris, has a showman’s flair for beautiful presentation. For the more complex of his desserts, he provides perspective sketches detailing their assembly.

There are fifty recipes here, arranged into sensuously described chapters with titles such as Voluptueux and Onctueux (Voluptuous and Unctuous) contrasting with Croquant and Croustillant (Crispy and Crusty).

Cohen’s sense of flavor is notably contemporary and his desserts include ingredients such as peanuts which would have been unexpected a generation ago. Among those that struck us:

• Vanilla-pecan millefeuille
• Caramelized puff-pastry brioche
• Lime, yuzu, and hazelnut tart
• Black sesame Paris-Brest

An abundance of ideas and inspirations.