annieb123's Review of Chocolate Lover

by Michele Song

An irresistible collection of 60 recipes in a special package with metallic silver paper (just like a chocolate bar) and luscious photos of every bake, including cookies, brownies, cakes, tarts, sweet breads, pastries, and more, all featuring white, milk, semisweet, or dark chocolate.

Melty pools of chocolate in a warm chocolate chip cookie. A decadent, perfectly fudgy brownie. An oh-so-nostalgic yellow birthday cake with whorls of chocolate buttercream.

If your mouth is watering, join the club—and rejoice! Because this cookbook is here to satiate your every chocolate craving. These recipes run the gamut from easy 15-minute pleasures to impressive kitchen projects that double and triple down on chocolatey goodness:

Weeknight treats like Peanut Pretzel Toffee Bark, Cocoa Tahini Marble Cookies, and Chewy Mochi Brownies
Giftable sweets such as Chocolate Pumpkin Babka and Orange Olive Oil Chocolate Cake
Morning indulgences from Lemon-Blueberry White Chocolate Muffins to Chocolate Frangipane Croissants
Special occasion bakes, including Strawberry White Chocolate Chantilly Cake, Coffee Caramel and Nutella Tart, and a stunning Neapolitan Icebox Cake

With guidance on melting chocolate, making ganache, caramelizing white chocolate, and so much more, Chocolate Lover is an indispensable baking book for chocolate enthusiasts everywhere, sure to become cocoa-smudged and frosting-stained from years of love and use. This is the perfect gift for the chocoholic in your life (including yourself!).

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Chocolate Lover delivers exactly what it says: a collection of 60 decadent treats curated by Michele Song. Released 17th Sept 2024 by Chronicle Books, it's 240 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This book really is an encyclopedic collection of all-things-chocolate. There are fancy chocolate-y things as well as accessible basic anyone-can-make-it things. There are classics both easy and challenging for all occasions.

The recipes are grouped roughly thematically: sweet treats, cookies, brownies & bars, snacking cakes, celebration cakes, pies & tarts, morning treats, fried/chilled, and bakery favorites. Each recipe includes an introduction, yields, description, equipment, ingredients listed bullet-style in a sidebar, and step by step specific directions which are clear and easy to follow. Unit measures are in imperial (American) measurements with metric in parentheses (yay!). Alternatives and special info is included in highlighted in text bars in each recipe.

Most of the ingredients will be available at any well stocked grocery store; there may be some items which will require a specialty supplier or online source (vanilla paste and a few other items, but not many).

Five stars.The photography is superb. This is a classic and comprehensive collection and will be a perennial go-to. This would be a great choice for public or school library acquisition, home use, or gifting to a foodie enthusiast friend.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

28 September, 2024: Started reading

28 September, 2024: Finished reading

28 September, 2024: Reviewed