Founded in 1996 by Robert Steinberg, a physician and amateur chef, and John Scharffenberger, an award-winning vintner, the company's confections have won a following among food professionals and home cooks alike. Now, in their first cookbook, the duo shares their passion with the world.The Essence of Chocolate features more than one hundred spectacular -- and often simple -- recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger files and from two dozen top pastry chefs. It is divided into three sections: "Intensely Chocolate," which includes such decadent treats as That Chocolate Cake, in which the sumptuous flavor of chocolate is the star; "Essentially Chocolate," with lighter chocolate desserts like White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache or Brown Butter Blondies; and "A Hint of Chocolate," with recipes that use chocolate's spicier qualities to their best effect, like Vegetarian Chili and John's Cocoa Rub. And all will work magnificently with any high-quality chocolate. Filled with helpful tips, sumptuous photographs, and the story of how chocolate is really made, here is a book that is every bit as seductive as its subject.Robert Steinberg had been practicing medicine for twenty years when he went to France in 1994 to explore chocolate making, then returned to his own kitchen to create the first versions of what would be Scharffen Berger chocolate. He lives in San Francisco and until recently practicedat the San Francisco Free Clinic. John Scharffenberger founded Scharffenberger Cellars, one of the premier sparkling wine manufacturers in the United States. He sold his interest in the winery, and in 1996 he and Steinberg founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. Scharffenberger lives in Berkeley and Mendocino County.

    Presents a collection of one hundred recipes for balanced dishes that celebrate the joys of cooking with simple ingredients, along with a narrative of the celebrity model's quest to find a healthy way of eating and enjoying food.

    ™ Though I'm not a professional baker, I am absolutely a passionate one. That passion has led to some extraordinary recipes, a few deliciously simple techniques, and a lifetime of baking experiences that are as satisfying as the finished products. I'm excited to share some of them with you in my first cookbook! Aside from my first high school job cooking in a restaurant, I bake in my home kitchen for the benefit of family (including my four pugs) and friends. And since 2007, I've enjoyed sharing recipes through my blog, Baked Chicago. What got me started on this baking path? It may be destiny: my mother's maiden name is Baker. And like a lot of kids, I remember helping mom in the kitchen. One of my earliest baking memories is brownies from scratch, using the cooking bible of its day - the Better Homes & Garden Cookbook with the iconic red-and-white plaid binding. I quickly learned to experiment by throwing in my own variations like chocolate and butterscotch chips, toffee, and peanut M&Ms - all in the same dish. These early baked "masterpieces" got a warm reception at school parties. Fellow high school students dubbed my rich and unusually dense brownies "ton cake." Over the course of high school, I made a ton of "ton cake." I still love tinkering with recipes and the challenge of breaking them down to the simplest terms, changing up ingredients and textures to create unique, truly flavorful treats. Here are a few truths I've discovered along the way that make my baking simple and successful:Focus on fewer, high-quality ingredients in your recipes.Baking from scratch is almost always easier (and cheaper) than from a box.A recipe should be easy to follow and execute. [There's nothing I hate more than a kitchen sink full of dirty pots, pans and utensils.]Brownies are among the most decadent of baked deliciousness, yet deceptively easy to make and a great canvas for culinary expression. In this cookbook, you'll find 33 of my best brownie and brownie-inspired recipes. All are easy to follow with instructions fitting on a single page. I hope they inspire you to express your simply decadent baking creativity. Baking success in the kitchen doesn't have to be hard work. Simply, bake like you mean it. ~ Harvey Morris

    No one is better equipped to explore this subject than acclaimed chef Magnus Nilsson. In The Nordic Baking Book, Nilsson delves into all aspects of Nordic home baking - modern and traditional, sweet and savory - with recipes for everything from breads and pastries to cakes, cookies, and holiday treats.No other book on Nordic baking is as comprehensive and informative. Nilsson travelled extensively throughout the Nordic region - Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden - collecting recipes and documenting the landscape. The 100 photographs in the book have been shot by Nilsson.

    Baking addict and food blogger, Sally McKenney loves to bake. Her famous Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies won Nestle's Dark Chocolate contest in 2013, and now, in her first cookbook, Sally shares her baking secrets with fans everywhere. Try her No-Bake Peanut Butter Banana Pie, her delectable Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cupcakes, or her yummy Marshmallow Swirl S'mores Fudge. Featuring a brand new selection of desserts and treats, the Sally's Baking AddictionCookbook is fully illustrated and offers 75 scrumptious recipes for indulging your sweet tooth--including a chapter of healthier dessert options for those who follow a vegan or gluten-free lifestyle. With dozens of simple, easy-to-follow recipes, you get all of the sweet with none of the fuss!

    "Following the instructions in a recipe is like parroting pre-formed sentences from a phrasebook. Forming an understanding of how flavors work together, on the other hand, is like learning the language: it allows you to express yourself freely, to improvise, to cook a dish the way you want to cook it.""The Flavor Thesaurus "is the inquisitive cook's guide to acquiring that understanding--to learning the language of flavor.Breaking the vast universe of ingredients down to 99 essential flavors, Segnit suggests classic and less well-known pairings for each, grouping almost 1,000 entries into flavor families like "Green & Grassy," "Berry & Bush" and "Creamy Fruity." But "The Flavor Thesaurus" is much more than just a reference book, seasoning the mix of culinary science, culture and expert knowledge with the author's own insights and opinions, all presented in her witty, engaging and highly readable style. As appealing to the novice cook as to the experienced professional, "The Flavor Thesaurus "will not only immeasurably improve your cooking--it's the sort of book that might keep you up at night reading.""Cooking is an art, like writing or painting, and great cooks are artists. And although the ultimate source of creativity remains elusive, all painters have their color wheel, all writers their vocabulary. And now, in the form of this beautiful, entertaining and exhaustively researched book, cooks have their own collection of essential knowledge: "The Flavor Thesaurus."