In Bittersweet, Alice Medrich continues her mouthwatering crusade to educate chocoholics everywhere about her passion. With 30 years experience, first at her famous Berkeley bakery, Cocolat, and then as an award-winning cookbook author, there is little Medrich doesn't know about chocolate. And what sets this book apart from all others is her willingness to share what's she's learned.

As the American palate has changed, and we've learned to appreciate better quality chocolate, more and more of it is has become available to us. These premium chocolates come labeled with their percentage of cocoa solids. This delectable book is made practically foolproof thanks to the "chocolate notes" that follow any recipe where the percentage would affect the outcome. In them, Medrich provides equivalencies which allow you to use your favorite chocolate, and tweak the recipe to make it work. She's brutally honest, too, so when she says you can't mess up the rich and magnificent Queen of Sheba cake, or the Cold Creamy Truffles that started her love affair with chocolate, believe her. And when she warns that there are possible pitfalls for novices when attempting Extra Bittersweet Ganache Truffles, read carefully. The vast majority of her recipes, mostly sweet, some savory, are quite simple; her instructions are painstaking and reassuring; and the tales with which she introduces each chapter are enchanting. So dive into Warm Bittersweet Mousse, White Chocolate Ice Cream, Raspberry-Laced Chocolate Cake, or Chocolate-Flecked Cocoa Soufflés, because doing the dirty work has never been so delicious! --Leora Y. Bloom

From Publishers Weekly
Medrich founded the dessert shop Cocolat in Berkeley in 1976 and authored Cocolat and Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts, which offered new, more "adult" flavors than the super-sweet tastes in vogue until that time. Today, as Medrich points out in an interestingly market-savvy introduction, the popularity of high-quality brands of chocolate is on the rise, and each of these recipes includes notes about how to alter it using chocolates with a higher percentage of "chocolate liquor," or cocoa bean content. This all sounds highly cerebral, but once Medrich puts her theory into practice in the form of Macadamia Shortbread Brownies, and Grappa, Currants, and Pine Nut Torte, it becomes deliciously clear. Hers are highly inventive creations, grouped in chapters loosely defined more by feel than by strict adherence to categories, such as a group of fluffy confections that includes Intensely Bittersweet Souffles and Melting Chocolate Meringue. Medrich provides a recipe for her signature Queen of Sheba torte, along with detailed notes about how it has evolved over the years. She even uses chocolate in a handful of savory recipes, such as Roasted Squash Soup with Cocoa Bean Cream. Clearly, this author's curiosity is her defining characteristic; her ability to convey the fruits of that curiosity is the readers' good fortune.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
The time when home bakers had only one choice of baking chocolate is long passed. Today, we have an entire new generation of chocolates to choose from: chocolates with less sugar, more cocoa bean solids, and definitely more flavor. And these new chocolates - called percentage chocolates - beg for the creation of new recipes and a fresh take on the classics.

Every recipe in Bittersweet in foolproof and utterly delicious, no matter what your level of expertise. You'll marvel that receipes as classics as brownies, chocolate cake, and ice cream can still surprise and that souffles, crepes, and even pasta sauces can be so dramatically flavorful.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
At my house, it is important to have a really good chocolate sauce recipe available in case of emergency. Even if your house doesn't have emergencies of this nature, you can still use this recipe. Good chocolate sauce and a little good vanilla ice cream make a dessert more delicious and satisfying than 90 percent of those you could order in even a top-flight restaurant. Good chocolate sauce and an assortment of ripe fruits and chunks of cake will get you chocolate fondue. And when things look bleak, good chocolate sauce and a spoon will make you smile.Chocolate Notes: This extremely accommodating recipe can be made with any bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. The range given for the milk or cream and the recipe instructions will guide you to adjust the liquid upward as needed for higher-percentage chocolates.Alice's Chocolate Sauce
Makes 1 3/4 cups
10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 to 1 cup milk, half-and-half, heavy cream, or any combination
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (if using milk instead of cream, but optional)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Put the chocolate and 1/2 cup of the milk or cream in a large heatproof bowl set in a wide skillet or barely simmering water and stir frequently until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If the sauce is too thick or looks curdled, add more milk. Or add more liquid if the sauce hardens more than you want it to when you spoon a little "test" over ice. If you have used milk (or even water), taste the sauce and, if you like, tone down the flavor intensity by adding some or all of the butter, bit by bit. Remove the sauce from the water and stir in the vanilla and salt. Use the warm sauce immediately, or set it aside and rewarm it briefly in a pan of hot water when you need it. (The sauce keeps in a closed container for several days in the refrigerator, and it can be frozen for up to 3 months.)

ANNOTATION

2004 IACP Cookbook of the Year

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The time when home bakers had only one choice of baking chocolate is long passed. Today, we have an entire new generation of chocolates to choose from: chocolates with less sugar, more cocoa bean solids, and definitely more flavor. And these "new chocolates" - called percentage chocolates - beg for the creation of new recipes and a fresh take on the classics.

Every recipe in Bittersweet in foolproof and utterly delicious, no matter what your level of expertise. You'll marvel that receipes as classics as brownies, chocolate cake, and ice cream can still surprise and that souffles, crepes, and even pasta sauces can be so dramatically flavorful.

Author Biography: Alice Medrich's personal approach to recipes and techniques and her obsessional understanding of chocolate hvae inspired several award-winning cookbooks, including Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts and Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts . She lives in Berkeley, California with her daughter.

SYNOPSIS

The former owner of the innovative Berkeley, California dessert shop "Cocolat" and author of the award-winning cookbook of the same name describes her conversion to "chocolate for adults" and her quest to create extraordinary desserts. Medrich includes recipes (some of lighter versions and non-desserts), sufficient photos to induce chocolate lust, a glossary, and fine chocolate sources. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Medrich founded the dessert shop Cocolat in Berkeley in 1976 and authored Cocolat and Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts, which offered new, more "adult" flavors than the super-sweet tastes in vogue until that time. Today, as Medrich points out in an interestingly market-savvy introduction, the popularity of high-quality brands of chocolate is on the rise, and each of these recipes includes notes about how to alter it using chocolates with a higher percentage of "chocolate liquor," or cocoa bean content. This all sounds highly cerebral, but once Medrich puts her theory into practice in the form of Macadamia Shortbread Brownies, and Grappa, Currants, and Pine Nut Torte, it becomes deliciously clear. Hers are highly inventive creations, grouped in chapters loosely defined more by feel than by strict adherence to categories, such as a group of fluffy confections that includes Intensely Bittersweet Souffl s and Melting Chocolate Meringue. Medrich provides a recipe for her signature Queen of Sheba torte, along with detailed notes about how it has evolved over the years. She even uses chocolate in a handful of savory recipes, such as Roasted Squash Soup with Cocoa Bean Cream. Clearly, this author's curiosity is her defining characteristic; her ability to convey the fruits of that curiosity is the readers' good fortune. (Oct.) Forecast: Medrich's Cocolat (1990) was an IACP and James Beard award winner, and Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts (1994) was also the recipient of a James Beard award. This highly personal, engaging collection is likely to garner prizes as well, and Artisan is supporting it with a 45,000 first printing and a 10-city tour. This is bound to be one of fall's big books, and it deserves to be. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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