Best books on making pastry?

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PJD

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Hello one and all!

I'm a relatively new but enthusiastic baker (just baking at home for the fun of it, without any aspirations to turn professional), and I find that I'm really enjoying baking pastry. It has been fascinating to learn all about the different types of pastry from a basic shortcrust to choux, to croissants or a hot water pastry for pork pies. I would love to find a really good, comprehensive guide to the art of pastry-making. Can anybody tell me whether there are any classics in this area, and does anyone have any favourites that they can suggest?

Many thanks for your help!
 
so Im not going to call it comprehensive, but I would HIGHLY recommend Dominique Ansel's The Secret Recipes, which not only has several pastry recipes but a section on lamination in general.

additionally, the man is one of the finest bakers in the world, and the book has helped me a lot in this area.
 
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Most of my baking books are packed away right now so I can't thumb through to see how appropriate specific books may be to your stated interests but I'll offer a few suggestions:
Michael Suas Advanced Bread and Pastry SF Baking Institute possibly more hardcore than you're looking for but a good reference book
Bo Friberg The Professional Pastry Chef I don't own this one but is another text used in culinary schools
Wayne Gisslen Professional Baking as above
French Culinary Institute The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts as above yet again

Julia Child and Dorie Greenspan Baking with Julia Dorie Greenspan has a bunch of baking books under her own name
Flo Braker The Simple Art of Perfect Baking a classic
Sherry Yard The Secrets of Baking
Jacquy Pfeiffer The Art of French Pastry

If you're ambitious the Keller et al Bouchon Bakery book has some merit but the huge format makes it unwieldy.. David Leibovitz is usually good. Richard Sax Classic Home Desserts is excellent. There are many more.

I assume you already have an accurate scale with a Tare function? If not, you'll need one. A Thermapen is very nice to have too.
 
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Many thanks to all of you for your recommendations! I'll explore all of those books and I'm sure I'll learn a lot from them and thoroughly enjoy myself along the way. 👍

LostHighway said:
I assume you already have an accurate scale with a Tare function? If not, you'll need one. A Thermapen is very nice to have too.
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Yes, I've got a good scale with a Tare function and a digital thermometer - both very useful gadgets in the kitchen!
 
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LostHighway said:
Most of my baking books are packed away right now so I can't thumb through to see how appropriate specific books may be to your stated interests but I'll offer a few suggestions:
Michael Suas Advanced Bread and Pastry SF Baking Institute possibly more hardcore than you're looking for but a good reference book
Bo Friberg The Professional Pastry Chef I don't own this one but is another text used in culinary schools
Wayne Gisslen Professional Baking as above
French Culinary Institute The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts as above yet again

Julia Child and Dorie Greenspan Baking with Julia Dorie Greenspan has a bunch of baking books under her own name
Flo Braker The Simple Art of Perfect Baking a classic
Sherry Yard The Secrets of Baking
Jacquy Pfeiffer The Art of French Pastry

If you're ambitious the Keller et al Bouchon Bakery book has some merit but the huge format makes it unwieldy.. David Leibovitz is usually good. Richard Sax Classic Home Desserts is excellent. There are many more.

I assume you already have an accurate scale with a Tare function? If not, you'll need one. A Thermapen is very nice to have too.
Click to expand...
Lost mentioned David Leibovitz, his website is pretty good too

https://www.davidlebovitz.com/category/recipes/french-pastries-desserts/
 
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PJD said:
Michael Suas Advanced Bread and Pastry SF Baking Institute possibly more hardcore than you're looking for but a good reference book
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I second this book, every recipe so far has been spot on and the explanations of the process are great. Youll need micro scales and to learn how to use out bakers’ percentages.
 
swhallo said:
I second this book, every recipe so far has been spot on and the explanations of the process are great. Youll need micro scales and to learn how to use out bakers’ percentages.
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That's good to hear, SWHallo. Sounds like one to add to my shelves! :)
 
luuogle said:
The book Elements of Dessert is full of interesting flavor parings and interesting techniques for dessert and also pastry. It will guide you to pick flavors that will go together and show more technical skills ad techniques you can apply to pastry. https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Dessert-Francisco-J-Migoya/dp/047089198X
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That looks like a very good book indeed - quite advanced, but it'll keep me learning and improving for a long time to come. Thank you, Luuogle!
 
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