Chocolate-A Love Story by Max Brenner (R)

A chocolate lover's delight (and which of us aren't chocolate lovers?), Chocolate-A Love Story by Max Brenner is a cookbook brimming with delicious recipes of all things chocolate.  If you can imagine a category of food, there's a chocolate recipe here to make it.

The author, Max Brenner, is a world-renowned chef, specializing in chocolate confections.  He opened his first chocolate shop in 1996; a traditional candy shop where he chatted with customers while mixing chocoate on the marble tabletop.  This start grew into a worldwide chain of restaurants called Chocolate by The Bald Man. 

Some of the recipes include Bohemian French toast chocolate sandwiches, Control Freak chocolate spread, Politically correct Sacher torte, A therapuetic chocolate pot pie, My lost childhood chocolate birthday cake, Guilt-free fried chocolate truffles, Controversial cherry soup, Innocent meringue kisses, Well-disciplined ladyfingers and Frozen very hot margaritas. 

The book is laid out in a way to facilitate cooking.  Each page has the recipe on the left page, with a graphical representation of the dish on the right page.  This allows the cook to lay down the cookbook and not worry about mixing ingredients from one recipe into another on the same page, a mistake most of us have made once or twice.  The ingredients are all those that are readily available, and the directions are clear and concise.

With Christmas coming up, readers will be tempted to buy multiple copies; one for themselves and others to give as thoughtful Christmas gifts.  This book is recommended to readers that love to cook, and cooks that love to read.