La France des Patisseries

This pastry tour of the French provinces highlights the work of leading chefs and shops from around the country. (The only place it skips is Paris, the subject of a companion book called Paris des Patisseries.)

Beautifully photographed, the book showcases regional specialties, many given sleek modern presentations, as well as occasional innovations which demonstrate that the spirit of pastry creativity is not restricted to the arrondissements of Paris.

The beautiful fleur de rhubarbe tart from Nantes in Brittany is an elegant play on acidity and richness. From Beaune, in Burgundy comes a whimsical mont-blanc au cassis. And at once more rustic and more elemental, a tarte au fromage blanc from Niedermorschwihr, near the German and Swiss borders, is the contribution of the famed Christine Ferber.

Handsome, practical, and inspiriing.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout. In French.