A few words about the recipes

How to read recipes, of course, is far more than being able to sound out the words written in them. As the re-creator of the recipe, you need to truly absorb the instructions contained within the recipes, wrapping your mind around the recipe or set of recipes before embarking on the actual process of creating the multicomponent dessert. Be patient and resist the temptation of plunging right in to making the recipe before having fully absorbed its outlines. Instead, read through the entire recipe from beginning to end once, making note of any technique or procedure that might pose a challenge to you or any step that seems unclear. Then read the recipe again with the goal of creating a mental picture of the entire set of procedures involved in accomplishing the dessert. In this way, you are committing to memory the basic outlines of the instructions and the order in which each part of the recipe is to be done. You are coming to “own” the recipe, which makes the actual process of producing the dessert seamless and smooth. This deep reading and comprehension of the recipe will eliminate the risk of any procedure being omitted or executed in the wrong order, leading to needless waste of time, the most precious commodity in the kitchen any chef has, and will ensure that the production of the dessert is accomplished with the greatest economy of movement in the least possible amount of time. At this point you should be able to easily restate in your own words what the recipe entails. When you have grasped the idea of the recipe and learned the techniques involved in making it, then you will be ready to meet any challenges in executing the dessert with confidence. Ideas about the use of ingredients and flavor combinations plus technique equal creativity. Having both an idea and the technique needed to execute that idea, incorporating it into a finished, refined dessert will take you beyond the recipes in the book, unleashing your creative side, leading you to the path on which you can create your own original desserts.