conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide a description for a book titled French Desserts about Martin, Brigdale, Britain with the genre: Cookbooks, Food & Wine, Regional & International.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Martin Brigdale has been a food photographer for twenty years. He has photographed over thirty cookbooks and has won awards in Britain, France, and the USA, including three Glenfiddichs, a Julia Child, and a Perigueux Award. Although photography is his chosen profession, he is an enthusiastic amateur cook.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide the first five paragraphs for this book.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: French Desserts
  My passion for all things sweet began, as it does for most of us, in my childhood. My grandmother would take us into New York City to a restaurant that made the most incredible mile-high Southern caramel cake. I still dream about it. My father would make us Crêpes Suzette if we asked him. The theatricality of it mesmerized us as he made it right at the table with a burner and copper skillet he bought in France just for the purpose of making the dish. He furthered the evolution of our taste for sweets by arriving home with boxes of baklava from a Greek bakery or with quarts of just-made vanilla ice cream from a local farm.
  By age twelve, I was baking creamy rice puddings and making ice creams in our family's old hand-cranked ice cream maker with the sweet peaches from our trees. By the time I was a newlywed living in Paris, I had developed a recipe box full of handwritten cards of all the desserts I loved to make.
  Years later when my husband and I returned to France to make it our home, I gained considerable knowledge about French desserts while living there for almost thirteen years, most of that time next door to a neighbor with a sweet tooth. Madame took me on a culinary tour of France's sweets by tutoring me in her kitchen. She had grown up in Alsace, spent time in Dijon, and moved with her husband to the south of France, so her sweets reflected a wide range of regional specialties.
  That sparked my interest in learning more about French cuisine and its deliriously delicious desserts. My husband and I traveled extensively throughout the country, and I was always stopping in local pastry shops to search out and sample things I was unfamiliar with, to explore desserts on bistro menus, and to collect recipes and techniques from people I met as I traveled. My dessert trail was filled with crumbs.
  You will be delighted with the recipe for a Giant Break-and-Share Cookie from the Poitou-Charentes region of France. It is a communal cookie made so that, after town meetings, baptisms, and marriages, everyone can break off a piece to enjoy together. It's my favorite cookie ever. Absolutely delicious. You will also discover a recipe for a unique triangular anise cookie from Charentes, in the western part of central France that is always made on Palm Sunday. Why three-sided? Some say it is to represent the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. There's a recipe for a sweet sugar bread from the Ardennes region in northern France as well as one for a beautiful ruffled apple pie, called Pastis Gascon, that they make in southwest France. You'll also love the recipe for little cakes from the area around Dijon, called Nonnettes, that have an orange marmalade heart.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide five more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and vigorously whisk while cooking until the egg mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, 1–2 minutes. It will look thick and foamy. Whisk in the pint of raspberries, crushing with the whisk until well combined. Cool the mixture to room temperature.
  Melt the white chocolate in a microwave, stir until creamy, then scoop into the egg mixture and whisk well to combine.
  Whip the cream until soft peaks form, add remaining sugar and the vanilla and beat again until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the egg mixture then divide between glasses and refrigerate for 5 hours.
  Serve with a small liqueur glass of Chambord to the side if you wish. If you have mint leaves, place one on the top of each mousse along with a couple of raspberries.
  Blanc-manger is a refreshing, creamy almond-flavored French dessert that dates from the Middle Ages when it began as a savory dish. It's usually made from almonds, milk, sugar, and gelatin.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the first sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: It will look thick and foamy. Whisk in the pint of raspberries, crushing with the whisk until well combined. Cool the mixture to room temperature.
  Melt the white chocolate in a microwave, stir until creamy, then scoop into the egg mixture and whisk well to combine.
  Whip the cream until soft peaks form, add remaining sugar and the vanilla and beat again until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the egg mixture then divide between glasses and refrigerate for 5 hours.
  Serve with a small liqueur glass of Chambord to the side if you wish. If you have mint leaves, place one on the top of each mousse along with a couple of raspberries.
  Blanc-manger is a refreshing, creamy almond-flavored French dessert that dates from the Middle Ages when it began as a savory dish. It's usually made from almonds, milk, sugar, and gelatin.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide the last five paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Pour the cream into a bowl and beat with the mixer until soft peaks form. Sprinkle with sugar, vanilla, and powdered milk and beat until soft peaks form again.
  My thanks to Barbara Barrielle, movie producer, writer, and food stylist for her imaginative and artistic food styling. You are invaluable and a great friend.
  I want to say special thanks to my friends who are always there to support and encourage me: the Fairfield Road taste testers, Sandy Taylor, Susan Laughlin, Kathleen Kennedy, Laura Elise Brown, Betsy Callas, Jen Cartmell, Jane Cartmell, the Mann family, George Sheinberg, Heather Pilley, Prudence Sam May Plusch, Judith Zouck, Hélène Lautier, Blandine Beaulieu, Grove Hafela, Jenny Hartin, Foster Thalheimer, Margaux Eckert, Debbie Thomas, Barbara Michelson, and Steve Davis.
  I would also like to express my gratitude to Le Creuset, Revol, and Emile Henry for kindly providing us with such beautiful products from France to shoot our dessert recipes on.
  Davis lived in France for over thirteen years—two years in Paris and more than eleven years in the village of Bar-sur-Loup in the South of France. She holds a degree in economics from Columbia University and a Masters in International Relations from Cambridge University in England. Please visit her at www.Hillary-Davis.com.