Entremets: 40 Desserts d'Exception

Notable both for their exquisite presentation as well as their often distinctive flavors, the elaborate, seasonally-inspired desserts featured here offer an array of temptations.

Pastry chefs Christophe Felder and Camille Lesecq—respected culinary instructors as well as the proprietors of pastry shops in Alsace—seem equally comfortable reworking classics as they do devising their own creations. You can find popular standards such as fraisier, poire chocolat, or opera, all given beautiful modern form.

But there are many bright new concepts as well, such as an apricot-passion fruit crème surrounding a lime-infused dacquoise. Happy framboise is a dazzlingly red loaf that contains chocolate sabayon and raspberry crémeux sitting atop an almond biscuit. Mascarpone Agrumes combines three citrus fruits, white chocolate, and almonds in a sunny disc of contrasts. And the tropical Mojito layers a minty genoise with lime parfait. Each recipe is accompanied by an assembly diagram. Fresh and appealing.

In French. Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.