Grand Finales: The Art of the Plated Dessert (Grand Finales) - Books

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
"A visually stunning and groundbreaking new book. Grand Finales: The Art of The Plated Dessert explores the intimate connection between flavor and presentation with recipes that are truly extraordinary. Thanks to the magnificent efforts of the pastry chefs in this book, the language of desserts will never be the same." -Jacques Torres, Le Cirque, New York A Gallery for the New Century A New Way to See, Taste, and Appreciate Neo-Classicism Echoes a classic dessert in form, preparation, or ingredients. Minimalism A single, primitive form supported by spare garnish. Illusionism Resembles a person, object, or scene. Architecturalism Features a prominent vertical component. Impressionism Communicates a theme or mood. Modernism Abstract forms with bold colors and a satirical edge. Performance Art Displays action at the touch of fork or spoon. Eclecticism Combines elements from other schools found herein. Fusionism Includes an ingredient or seasoning outside the European and American dessert tradition.

Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Great Book for the Hard Core Pastry Chef June 24, 2008
If you are a home baker, this book is going to be VERY intimidating. Some of the things in this book take considerable skill and patience to accomplish and are NOT for the faint of heart!

That being said, even if you never make any of the desserts in this book as they appear, the book is worth the price. Most of the recipies for parts of the desserts can be used in other ways than shown. A good recipie is a good recipie, no matter how it is used.

At the very least, it will make a great coffee table book because the photography in the book is steller.

4 out of 5 stars

GOOD RECIPES, IMPRACTICAL DECORATIONS October 15, 2007
Every artisan, in every profession has one aspect of their job, that he/she does not particularly like (or utterly dislikes). As a pastry chef I have to admit that for me this is the plated dessert. A little sauce here, a chocolate curl over there, a marbled swirl on the side, a matching base with a matching cream and a matching ice-cream and the whole thing is devoured only minutes after its preparation, only to start again the next afternoon. I like to produce and decorate the pastries, line them in trays in the display cabinet or on the counter, watch the customers as they come and see them, answer their questions as to the ingredients and the quality, pack them in a nice box and give them away, in a space of one to two days. Many times I just pass by the trays and the cabinets and just admire the beauty of it all.
So why would I review a book about plated desserts? Because I bought it. And why did I buy it? Mainly to have a reference book on plated desserts. Secondly, to adopt the decorations to pastry shop products.
On both counts I was disappointed.
Some of the desserts are too elaborate to be practical for either the restaurant or the hotel. Some just take too long to make and cannot be easily mass produced, so they are in effect useless to even the most efficient pastry chef. It is not so for all the desserts though. Most look great and are easy and fast to make. Some decorations look a bit dated (it is a 1996 book after all).
Why then 4 stars? Because as a pastry shop pastry chef (what a play of words) I don't care if the desserts are elaborate, I will never make them.
I have discovered another treasure within, the recipes! A plethora of recipes:
Mousses, cookies, biscuits, sponges, creams, ice creams, sorbets, custards and many more are to be found in these pages. So to me this book is not what the authors intended it to be, but an excellent source of recipes that I can utilise, not on a plate but in any other way imaginable.
Another plus is that the recipes are in both the Metric and the Imperial system and temperatures are in Celsius as well as Fahrenheit.
So if you do want to spent the money I recommend this as a good source for plated desserts, but as an even better source for recipes.

4 out of 5 stars

The best of the Grand Finales volumes August 5, 2005
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

Of the three plated dessert books that Boyle and Moriarty made together (the other two are Grand Finales: A Neoclassic View of Plated Desserts,and A Modernist View of Plated Desserts), I would say that this one is the best. The pictures here are as gorgeous as always, but the presentations and recipes are much more feasible than the other two. Unlike a lot of the dishes from Modernist View, these ones are actually servable in a restaurant, or at a dinner party. They are not over the top dishes that are just for show. I would give this 4 1/2 stars if I could. The one thing that prevents it from being a 5 star book is the lack of glossary and the constant use of 'non-edible garnishes'. I am not a fan of huge sugar garnishes that no-one is going to eat, or if they do it would break their teeth. Don't get me wrong, they look really pretty, but I believe that everything you put on the plate you should be able to eat. Just difference in styles, I guess.

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent September 9, 2002
4 out of 11 found this review helpful

I'm a pastry student in Peru and I just can tell all the people that love pastry that this the best book I ever seen and I recommend a lot

5 out of 5 stars

tough, but fun November 11, 2001
4 out of 12 found this review helpful

A very, very awesome book. You have to be hard core to want this book. It took about 5 hours for me and some friends to make one of the desserts, but we had a blast. It measures everything out with wait, so you don't have to worry if you bought the jumbo eggs when the recipee assumes you are using large. If you like cooking, buy this book. If you don't like cooking, I still say buy this book.

The sorbets alone are worth the price of the book

Good Grape Wine Company