Caprial's Desserts

Book excerpt: Nestled in a quaint neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, you'll find Caprial's Bistro, where chef-owner Caprial Pence and pastry chef Melissa Carey create homey, comforting, and dazzling desserts, which are happily devoured by their legions of faithful patrons. Now, Caprial and Melissa share their philosophy of dessert making and reveal the methods of professional pastry chefs, resulting in this deeply satisfying, truly essential collection of classic and contemporary recipes. Like a culinary school education, Caprial's Desserts focuses on the basic process pastry chefs practice daily-using master recipes and techniques as a springboard for developing new desserts. Sixty-seven master recipes for classics such as genoise and berry pie, each grounded in the chefs' shared appreciation of wholesome, no-nonsense desserts, serve as the foundation for tantalizing variations.