Christine McFadden

A decent history of chocolate by McFadden, followed by recipes by France. But for one McFadden turkey mole poblano, the recipes are sweet, not savory. France's recipes have very good photographs of technique steps. For those on the left side of the pond, be aware that many of the English ingredients might not be available at your local supermarket. Nut and Chocolate Chip Brownies, p. 221. Very yummy.

Quick and simple pasta recipes that I believe anyone can make. One of the best things about this cookbook as opposed to others is that every recipe has a picture of what the final product is supposed to look like. Most cookbooks do not have this and just give you a picture after every few recipes. I personally find seeing the pictures next to each recipe very helpful as I see what each dish is supposed to look like. The pictures in the book are very well photographed and detail oriented. The show more one drawback of this book may be the fact that it does not have the caloric content of each meal listed. But that is a minor quibble as it is actually nice to see a cookbook that does not obsess over every ounce. Great cookbook in my opinion. show less

The first 60 or so pages describe the history of chocolate, the cultivation process, the types of chocolate used in different countries, and is quite interesting. The rest of the book is recipes which are... not very inspiring or appealing.

If you happen to be a Chocolate Fanatic, then you might like this book quite a bit more than I did....

Introduction; The History of Chocolate; Cultivation & Processing; Taste, Quality & Presentation; A World of Chocolate (Chocolate around the world); Physiology and Psychology; and The Recipes: Types of Chocolate; Techniques; Tea-Time; Cakes & Gateaux; Special Occasion & Novelty; Hot Desserts; Tarts, Pies & Cheesecakes; Chilled; Ices & Sorbets; Biscuits & Cookies; Little cakes, Slices & Bars; show more Sweets, Truffles & drinks; and sauces, Frostings & Icings... Addresses & Acknowledgements and Index.

Quite a lot of information, great photos, a wide variety of recipes using a wider variety of ingredients. These recipes are not for the first time baker, but are for someone more accomplished......

For my taste, there weren't enough recipes w/ coffee as an additional ingredient, but I did like the: Chocolate Coconut Roulade, Baked Chocolate & Raisin Cheesecake, and the Luxury White Chocolate Cheesecake. show less