By the Book: Pierre Hermé’s Pastries

Pierre Hermé was famous for his involvement with Ladurée in Paris, but since his departure from the famous patisserie, he's grown his business of designer pastries in Tokyo, Paris, Dubai and London. His desserts are the epitome of luxury: beautiful, pristine and decadent. His latest cookbook, Pierre Hermé Pastries, is certainly fit for the most beautiful of coffee tables, but, unexpectedly, it also has some recipes simple enough for home cooks.



The book is comprised of 50 desserts. From simple pleasures like cookies (See the chocolate chip cookie recipe below.) and muffins to extravagances like croissants and mille-feuille, each classic dessert has two recipes to accompany it: one classic version and one version that Hermé has reinvented. There are some recipes that are actually simple; for example, his chocolate cake recipe requires only 10 minutes of active preparation time.



So while the book feels a bit intimidating, there are definitely recipes that are easy enough for home cooks who don't own a blowtorch. You will need a scale to make most of these recipes though, especially since Hermé includes measurements like one-and-a-half eggs or 75 grams. There's a reason that his pastries are perfect, I suppose.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Makes 30 Cookies 1¼ cups (120 g) pecan or macadamia nuts 8 oz. (240 g.) Guanja dark chocolate, 70% cacao (Valrhona) 1¼ sticks (150 g.) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 tsp. (5 g.) fleur de sel de Guérande (or other fine sea salt) 1¼ cups (240 g.) soft brown sugar 1½ eggs (75 g.) 1¾ cups (225 g.) all-purpose flour 1 tsp. (5 g.) baking powder ¼ tsp. (1.5 g.) baking soda • Using a rolling pin, coarsely break the pecan or macadamia nuts into pieces. Chop the chocolate into pieces • Cut the butter into pieces and process it until it is creamy. Process it again with the salt and sugar until the mixture is smooth. • Incorporate the eggs and process for 3 more minutes. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, chopped nuts and chocolate pieces. Process 2 minutes. • Preheat the oven to 340 degrees. • Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. • Using an ice cream scoop, shape mounds of dough weighing around 1 oz. (30 g.), and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving generous space between each mound. Flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand. • Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Store the cookies in an airtight container. Reprinted with permission from Stewart Tabori & Chang What’s the best dessert you have ever had and where did you get it? Tell us about it in the comments section below for a chance to win a copy of Pierre Hermé Pastries. We’ll announce the winner in next week’s By the Book column. And now, we’d like to congratulate Ian, whose comment on last week’s By the Book has won him a copy of Ritz Paris Haute Cuisine. Ian, keep an eye out for an email from the Sauce crew.