cover image CELEBRATE WITH CHOCOLATE: Totally Over-the-Top Recipes

CELEBRATE WITH CHOCOLATE: Totally Over-the-Top Recipes

Marcel Desaulniers, . . Morrow, $34.95 (192pp) ISBN 978-0-688-16298-6

There are two kinds of chocolate obsessives: purists, who like their chocolate unadulterated, more black than brown, more bitter than sweet, and would inject it if they could; and decadents, whose jaded palates can be tempted only by chocolate follies of increasing complexity and sophistication. Desaulniers (Death by Chocolate; Death by Chocolate Cakes; and Desserts to Die For) has emerged from the morbid fascination of his previous books with his obsession intact, taking chocolate machismo to new heights. Many consider his first book to be a certifiable chocolate bible, and may wonder where else Desaulniers can go. Whereas Death by Chocolate overpowers (with Chocolate Devastation), his newest amuses (Chocolate-Banana-Rum-Raisin Ice Cream Cakes with Rum and Almond Twinkle). Desaulniers is famous for his ambitious recipes, but this latest book is really most successful at is simplest. Cocoa Yogurt Mousse cannot take more than five minutes to prepare and tastes like a million bucks; Chocolate Madras Cake thrillingly combines dark chocolate with orange zest and a deep cranberry coulis. And despite Desaulniers's almost militant chocoholism, 40 years in the business have given him a voice more humane and interesting than most of the bad-boy cookbook authors in vogue. (Nov.)