Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion

I remember wanting this cookbook many years ago when it first came out, but it was too expensive for me at that time. It is a lovely layout with a picture of every recipe. Not the kind of dessert for a weekday meal, but would be great for special occasions. Fun just to look at the pictures.

This is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks that contains one of my most frequently used recipes (Chocolate Honey Almond Crunch, a frequent present and hostess gift). I decided I wanted to give a copy to a friend and was so glad I was able to find one. The condition of the book I received was excellent.I'm a fan of Desaulniers. I enjoyed his restaurant, The Trellis, when I lived in Virginia, and I've enjoyed his television shows. He's an artist in the kitchen, with chocolate in particular. The recipes in this book that I've made have been scrumptious. Some are a little complex but that's something that I enjoy in a baking project. There are some simpler ones as well.The book itself is lovely, with large, beautiful photographs and a well-designed layout. I've heard people complain that it's not more hefty. I actually appreciate that it's not a tome. It seems to realize its intentions very well.

I really liked that this book was broken up into sections that went from really easy to really, really hard, so you could pick a section and start with something you were comfortable doing and then working up to the harder and longer recipes. I thought that that was a real organizational bonus to what is a really nice cookbook.The beginning recipes were very doable, and I'm starting in on the harder ones. It's fun to drool over the seven element creation, but much more fun to tackle and easily do (given all the techniques they teach in the book) the most incredibly chocolate cookies I've ever attempted or eaten.

Sometimes (about once or twice a decade), I decide to have the kind of dinner party where the food is Really Impressive. I usually go for a simple dessert, to balance the intricacy of the other courses. Reading this book, it occurred to me that I could do it the other way around -- a dinner party with really simple (but very tasty) courses, leading up to a blow-out dessert. I'm thinking a simple stew, pepper salad and rustic bread, followed by some kind of chocolate thing that will knock everyone's socks off.If I ever decide to do that, this is the cookbook I will use. The recipes in this book are involved. Many of them have to be made over two days. I've watched the show, and I am a fairly experienced cook, so I feel confident that I could successfully make anything in this book. But I sure would make a point of practicing first!The food styling is not as good as the recipes -- some of the dishes are not shown to their best advantage. I didn't notice this at first, because the photos are glossy and flamboyant.This is not an everyday cookbook, but it makes a beautiful coffee table book, and it's going to help me build the centerpiece of my backwards dinner party.

Every morsel of food I've produced with this recipe book has been like a tiny slice of heaven. It's worth buying the nicer ingredients to make these recipes. And the book has easy to follow directions for even some of the more complicated processes.

I saw Desauliers' video in 2005 and I wanted that book back then. I remembered the name and checked Amazon and they still offered it. Fantastic chocolate dessert recipes with very detailed instructions on to make it perfectly. I am going to buy his second highly rated book, Desserts to Die For.

My friend was Very happy to receive this surprize gift. I'm happy Amazon had it at such a reasonable price.

Great recipes Have used this book in my Restaurant since book first came out. Needed new copy👍