Enter to Win a Copy of The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts

In December, I had a chance to attend the launch party for the French Culinary Institute's new book The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts. I was lucky to snag a copy and now you can, too...

Let me start by saying this is a GORGEOUS and substantial book. 512 pages! 650 color photographs! The book is based on the pastry arts curriculum at New York’s French Culinary Institute's --a curriculum developed by master pâtissier Jacques Torres. There are chapters focused on each of the classic categories of confection: tarts, cream puffs, puff pastry, creams and custards, breads and pastries, cakes, and petits fours. It's like culinary school in book form. If you're a budding baker, you'll want this as a learning tool. If you're an experienced baker, you'll want this for a reference. I've already used my copy a couple times and it's saved me from screwing up several batches of caramel.

The book retails for $75, but we're giving one away for free. Here's how it's going to work... I've tweeted the link to this post. To enter, retweet the link to your followers and post a comment here with the link to your tweet. You can enter as many times as you'd like, but you have to post a separate comment and separate link for each entry. Next Thursday we'll randomly choose the winner and the friendly folks at Abrams will ship a copy to you (we have to limit this to the 50 states, sorry international readers!).

To whet your appetite for this book, take a peek at Abrams' site. Where you can download the recipe for Tarte aux Pommes, the same delicious tart in the photo below, used with FCI and Abrams' permission.


Or you can check out their recipe for eclairs here. But come on, you know you want the book, so get tweeting!