This has become my favorite baking book. Whenever I need to impress, I make one of these desserts. Herme doesn't skip any steps or skimp on quality. As a result, the desserts are rich and satisfying. (My favorites are the black forest cake, the mousse, and the linzer torte. The black forest cake comes out better than that made at the local French bakery.)After you make the recipes a few times, you can easily adapt them to incorporate other flavors.It's not a beginner's book, by any means--simple things like the best way to separate eggs are not explained in this book (unusual procedures are explained, though), and most of the recipes are extremely time consuming. If you're serious about cooking, this book is well worth the effort.