Review: Chocolate – A Love Story
When Max Brenner was ten years old, he read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and he’s been fascinated with chocolate ever since. He now has restaurants all over the world, and has written Chocolate: A Love Story, which is a collection of 65 dessert recipes (chocolate, of course) from his private collection.
Most of the recipes in this book look a little too complicated for my cooking skills, but some are fairly simple – things like banana split, colorful milkshake, and tacky double chocolate fondue. Some of the recipe names are as much fun as the recipes, like this one:
A philosophical highly concentrated fudge brownie:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
32 ounces dark (preferably 70 percent) chocolate, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs, room temperature
1½ cups sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups chopped walnut
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour a 13 x 8 jelly-roll pan lined with parchment paper.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter and cream to a boil. Pour over the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Let sit until the chocolate begins to melt, about 1 minute, then stir until the chocolate has melted completely and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Add the vanilla to the cooled chocolate mixture. Whisk in the eggs one by one, followed by the sugar.
- Sift ¾ cup flour with the salt, and stir into the chocolate mixture using a wooden spoon. Mix until fully incorporated. Toss the walnuts with the remaining ¼ cup flour and mix into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean, 28 to 30 minutes. Let cool, then wrap and refrigerate overnight for the fudgiest texture. Makes 20 to 25 brownies.
My only complaint with this cookbook is that there aren’t any pictures of the finished products. It is beautifully illustrated by Yonatan Factor, but the illustrations generally have nothing to do with the recipes.
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Sounds like a cool cookbook, but like you, I enjoy pictures. This recipe sounds decadent!
Uh! Just shoot me now! Or better yet, give me death by chocolate! Of all books, this one definitely needs pictures I would think.
Oh, I love chocolate. Good review.
I agree totally with your review — I would make very few of the recipes, and I wish there were photos. I loved the artwork but would have preferred to see the finished dish.
I like this book – it’s more than a cookbook. The art seems so retro. I may give a recipe a try but like you, find most of them a bit beyond my talents (or motivation for that matter)! I think it makes a good coffee table book.
I like chocolate, but unlike some among friends, family and colleagues, I am not passionate about it. I prefer other kinds of “forbidden” more salty foods.
Probably if they put pictures in there would be too many people swooning! Those brownies sound illegal!
Sounds good, but we are on chocolate over;load. I made a chocolate cream pie for dessert last night (we have company).
I like pictures in my cookbooks and with chocolate as the base they should all look beautiful. And if it’s too complicated it’s not for me. I would be happy to visit anyone who was making something from the book though
Get thee back, you chocolate demon. Good grief, I gained 10 pounds reading the recipe. I’m with you, though, on the pictures. I want to see what the dish will look like when I finish. Or what it’s supposed to look like, anyway.
Helen
Straight From Hel
I’m with you: I like cookbooks with photographs. Something to attain to.
I love chocolate. And how cool is that, the author being inspired by a book to take up making chocolate?
I’m curious, what are the illustrations of, if not food?
The cover has a real 70′s feel to it. I am a rubbish cook, so I doubt I would venture to any of these but they do sound good.
It sounds delicious, but it sounds like I’d have to be willing to try some new things to make these recipes. (Like melting the chocolate, it seems like it should be easy, but sounds like a lot of work – intimidates me somehow.)
I think that cookbooks should have pictures with every recipe.
This book kinds sucks period. I reviewed it ages ago, and took pics. It was good, but still not a great book.
My mouth is watering….. I do like pictures too…. sometimes they inspire me to bake
Yummy post! I LOVE chocolates! I’m already pining for one now. LOL! Sad that there are no pictures! I so like to look at the finished product, sometimes that’s enough to make me want to make it!
The Fudge Brownie recipe looks delicious, Kathy! I have been to Max Brenner’s chocolate store in NYC. It’s smells amazing and the menu is great (It’s a little expensive, but a yummy treat!). I think it’s a shame there aren’t any photos in the cookbook & kind of strange. I love reading recipes but when I can see pictures of the finished product that helps encourage me to try the recipe myself!
Hmm, what’s a cook book without pictures? : (
I adore chocolate, but like you and so many others, a recipe without a correlating picture just doesn’t quite do it for me. But the fudge brownie recipe you posted sounds divine, and I can substitute rice flour and make it gluten-free too!
Thanks, Kathy.
This looks really good! The recipe you posted doesn’t look too difficult – I’m going to see if I have walnuts and try it out with the ladies at work this week. They love chocolate too!
Those brownies sound divine! Thanks for a fun book review, Kathy. Why am I craving chocolate now?
Ohhh, it truly sounds decadent!!
This book sounds delicious!
A chocolate cookbook?! This sounds like a book for me!
pictures are a must for me in a cookbook.
I liked this cookbook, but I agree with your comments on some of the recipes. Still if you ever get to NYC the real Max Brenner’s is a quite a treat!
Darn it! Dave and I are dieting and I think I just gained back what I had lost just drooling over your review and the recipe. Chocolate has always been my weakness.
OK … this is a book I want but know I should never ever own as it would cause me to gain untold pounds. Just reading the ingredient list of those brownies caused me to gain 2 pounds!
a chocolate cookbook is right up my alley
too bad there arent any photos of the finished dishes though.
I love all things chocolate too! Maybe I’ll hold off on a “diet”
Yum! But a cookbook with no photos? Odd–maybe they just figured that chocolate addicts would be able to picture the products?!
I tried one of the recipes in this. Tasted good, but nothing extraordinary. Most of them looked too complicated for me, too.
I am a huge chocoholic, so this book holds a lot of interest for me. It’s too bad that there are no pictures though. I will have to try to take a peek at this book if I can, and thanks for including the recipe! I have been looking for a good homemade brownie recipe for quite awhile!
I agree with your thoughts on this cookbook. The artwork is beautiful but pictures of the recipes would have been nice. I found it to be a cross between a coffee table book and cookbook.
As someone who can’t cook at all, I need to find a cookbook that not only has a picture of the finished product, but some pictures or illustrations of some of the steps along the way. I think photos of the food are how you can really be drawn into making something. How curious that wasn’t included in this one.
That could be the title of my life too!
that brownie recipe seems heavenly. I have heard of this book before and its always been good reviews, though with the admittance that the recipes might be a bit difficult. Makes me want to give some of them a try (almost).
This one was more of a coffee table type book for me, rather than a cookbook! It’s big, and none of the recipes are very easy. I wished for more photos and less “art”!
Ugh…I hate cookbooks without pictures of the finished products….that’s a bummer…why include illustrations if they have nothing to do with the food?!
Chocolate = Heaven.
This book sounds great, but I think cookbooks really need pictures of the finished product.
–Anna
Wow, that sure sounds decadent–and delicious!
Oh my goodness…I am sitting here at my desk and getting ready to go to lunch. Now I am craving chocolate!!
When I visited my son in Australia a few years ago during his semester abroad, I put Max’s chocolate bistro near the top of my list of must-see sites. As I recall it, my hot chocolate was basically a mixture of milk and dark chocolate that I melted at my table. Only slightly less awesome than the Great Barrier Reef.
Thanks! from a chocolate lover.