The Pastry Chef's Guide

'Pastry is an art but it is also food so remember to stay in touch with your ingredients, reflect the seasons in your food and, for the love of God, don't use strawberries in December.'

This is a book aimed at chefs and home bakers alike who FEAR baking.The message: pastry is easy. Written by pastry chef extraordinaire, Observer Food Monthly 50 and Code Hospitality 30 Under 30 Ravneet Gill, this is a straight talking no-nonsense manual designed to become THE baking reference book on any cookery shelf. This is the written embodiment of Ravneet's very special expertise as a patisserie chef. She has a natural flair and razor-sharp wit that gives her enormous appeal.

Starting with a manifesto for pastry chefs, Ravneet then swiftly moves onto The Basics where she explains the principles of patisserie, which of ingredients you just need to know (gelatine, fresh and dried yeast, flours, sugar, chocolate, cream and butter), how to line your tins, understanding fat content, what equipment you really need, oven temperatures and variables to watch out for. This section alone will give the reader enough knowledge of baking to avoid the pitfalls so many of us take when baking. Chapters are then organised by type of patisserie: Sugar, Custards, Chocolate, Pastry, Biscuits, Cakes, Desserts and Puddings, Ingredients and Equipment. So whether you want to make a lighter-than-air birthday cake, flaky breakfast pastries, smooth and rich ice creams (or parfaits 'because parfaits are for when you're in the shit'), macarons or meringues, Ravneet will offer just the right advice to make it all seem easy.

About the Author

Ravneet studied at Le Cordon Bleu before taking over the pastry sections at St John, Llewelyn's, Margot Bakery and Wild by Tart. Now a freelance chef, she set up industry networking forum Countertalk in May 2018 and has since successfully hosted events that encourage chefs to expand their knowledge outside of their stations by learning direct from other chefs. With events on bread, then pasta, next up is ice cream, then pastry; and meanwhile she hosts industry insiders with guest chef meals and screenings of films and documentaries such as The Heat Doc. Countertalk also publishes its own 'Chefs Make Sandwiches' series online and posts job ads.