French Pastries and Desserts by Lenôtre

Gaston Lenôtre, the legendary master French pâtissier, was revered for having made desserts lighter and more delicious; his techniques continue to influence pastry chefs in France and around the world. This new edition of the now cult cookbook―first published in English in 1977 as Lenôtre’s Desserts and Pastries―has been updated in collaboration with the chefs at Lenôtre Paris and two of the founder’s children. Two hundred essential recipes include croissants, éclairs, crêpes, mille-feuilles, baba au rhum, molten chocolate cake, lemon meringue pie, and mango tartlet. The chefs at Lenôtre Paris―who run a world-class cooking school―have adapted the recipes for amateur bakers and experienced professionals alike who seek inspiration from the rich tradition of Lenôtre’s French pâtisserie.

The great French culinary master Gaston Lenôtre (1920―2009) opened his first pastry shop with his wife Colette in Normandy in 1945, and another in Paris a decade later, before founding École Lenôtre with his son Alain in 1971, which has trained the world’s leading pastry chefs. Lenôtre Paris is a culinary empire―from restaurants and catering, to an international network of bakeries and culinary education centres ― it embodies French savoir vivre and savoir faire. First published in French, this classic reference has been translated into English, German, Japanese, and Danish. Two of Lenôtre’s children participated in this updated edition: Sylvie Gille-Naves, who developed several cookbooks with her father, along with Alain Lenôtre and his wife Marie, who together founded the Culinary Institute Lenôtre in Houston, Texas, ranked as the best college for culinary arts in America by Niche.