Gateaux ─ 150 Large and Small Cakes, Cookies, and Desserts

As a follow-up to his spectacular Patisserie, master pastry chef Christophe Felder presents Gâteaux, a beautifully illustrated guide to executing perfect cakes, from delightful small bites to showstopping centerpieces.

Classic French pastry represents the pinnacle of control, elegance, and technique. From jewellike canelés and madeleines in a window case to burnished brioches at the boulangerie to showstopper centerpiece desserts at five-star restaurants, everyone loves a perfect bake.

Precise instructions and step-by-step photo- graphs guide bakers through 150 mouthwatering recipes, including one-bite delights, simple cakes, Sunday breads, celebration cakes, and tarts. Felder includes French classics such as sablés, éclairs, Saint-Honoré cake, tarte tatin, and croquembouche, regional recipes from Alsace, Brittany, and Provence, as well as his own twists on Belgian (Speculoos), German (Black Forest cake), and Australian (Pavlova) desserts.

Each beautiful photograph will inspire bakers of all levels while step-by-step pictures clearly illustrate techniques such as making fondant flowers, constructing a charlotte, and braiding a brioche. To build younger bakers’ skills and confidence, Felder includes a section of easy recipes for the whole family—which don’t short on proper technique.

Christophe Felder is one of the world’s most respected pastry chefs, authors, and teachers. He was the pastry chef at the Hotel de Crillon for fifteen years before publishing more than twenty cookbooks in France and opening his own pastry school for home cooks. Camille Lesecq was the head pastry chef at the Hotel Meurice in Paris.