The bonbons in this book look like cut gemstones or art glass: multi-colored, multidimensional, and constructed through a six-stage process developed by Andrey Dubovik, a self-taught chocolatier whose techniques draw on sources as unexpected as steam, static electricity, and coffee filters. This is demanding professional territory. More than 200 pages of step-by-step photographs document Dubovik's methods in extensive detail, supported by a thorough treatment of tempering for different types of chocolate and cocoa butter, and his analysis of sweeteners such as sucrose, invert sugar, honey, and glucose syrup, and their effects on texture and flavor. The visual ambition of the book is so consuming that readers may overlook the 15 filling recipes, which deserve attention in their own right and include: Wild strawberry-pistachio Cognac-hazelnut Yuzu-passionfruit Buckthorn-buckwheat-honey A significant addition to a serious confectionery library. Hardcover. Color photographs throughout. In English and in Spanish.
