Chocolate Alchemy: A Bean-To-Bar Primer

None of the recipes are very original or very detailed. The information in this book is less detailed and less helpful than a few Google searches on making chocolate. Get the book "Making Chocolate" by Dandelion and "Chocolate and Confections" instead.

A great purchase for anyone who loves to make bites with high quality chocolate. Quickest path to mastery of working with chocolate. Well written and beautifully photographed.

This is a misleading title and subtitle on two levels. First, it is not a bean-to-bar book. It's a recipe book. The bean to bar section of the book is lame and I doubt if anyone could learn how to make chocolate from these instructions. If you want to make bon-bons or cakes it might be fine but it is not a book on making chocolate. Second, the title is the same name as the web site of the godfather of bean-to-bar chocolate, John Nanci, which is a place where you CAN learn how to make chocolate. And with a world more guidance and help than this book. The book also has numerous typos--unusual for this publisher. Very disappointed.

After reading this book, I now know who the true Chocolate Alchemist is! Amazing book!

This book is a brilliant amalgamation of unique recipes and reveals a depth of methodology for bean to bar chocolate making that you can do in your own home. I don't know what the previous reviewer was referring to when he said that it's just about baking, as there are chapters specifically titled "Roasting your own cacao beans" and chapters dedicated to cracking and winnowing the cacao, which are complex processes that have yet to be laid out in such a brilliantly simple fashion until this book. The only one capable of this is Kristen Hard, the first female bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the US. She continues to give us a gift by putting her knowledge and artistry into the world. I hope you can appreciate it as much as I do when you read this book.

I prefer to buy based on values, and I don't agree with anyone who exploits the brand name of someone else in their own community. Chocolate Alchemy's author appropriated the Chocolate Alchemy brand built by another chocolatemaker, John Nanci, who has been generous with his knowledge within the chocolate community for almost 15 years through his (John Nanci's) Chocolate Alchemy site: chocolatealchemy.com (nothing to do with author Kristen Hard). To adopt his name and steal his brand is a crass marketing move that I don't agree with, hence the single star. I know nothing about the book, but at some point, our purchases need to be informed by our conscience and by supporting those whose efforts deserve to be supported, not those who piggyback and dilute others' brands.

The recipes in this cookbook are fabulous! Don't miss reading it just because someone is making a stink is about the name of this book. There are 2 other books named Chocolate Alchemy, and also a few places of business with the same name--no law against it. The author isn't selling chocolate-making equipment, and she even lists the offended guy's business in her Source Guide as a place to purchase the equipment. Overlook the kerfuffle, which amounts to a hill of (cacao) beans, read the author's great backstory, and try some of these wonderful dessert recipes, especially the Devil in My Mouth cookies, and the Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Cream Pies. Or make a chocolate salami to fool your friends at your next dinner party. Yummy.

Beautiful book. Kristen has amazing recipes and I learned a ton from this book!

très décevant!premièrement, ce n'est pas un livre "how to" mais simplement un autre livre de recettes déjà connues.deuxièmement, elle utilise un nom de titre qui attire à tort les gens moi incluse. Je croyais que ce livre avait été fait en collaboration avec John Nanci founder of chocolate alchemy ce qui n'est pas le cas.

Perdon yo quería chocolates y me enviaron un libro a lo mejor me equivoque al hacer el pedido ahora lo quiero devolver. Gracias