Table Of ContentII
,r Guild of
Food Writers
Cookery Book
of the Year
2012
ILLIAM
CURLEY
hy byJ ose Lasher
For Suzue, my inspiration, and our
adorable daughter, Amy Rose.
First published in 20 I I by Jacqui Small Lip
an imprint of Aurum Press Ltd,
7 Greenland Street, London NW I OND
Publisher Jacqui Small
Editors Abi Waters & Emma Callery
Managing Editor Kerenza Swift
Designer Robin Rout
Photography Jose Lasheras
Production Peter Colley
Text copyright
© William Curley 20 I I
Design, layout and photography copyright
© Jacqui Small 20 I I
The right of William Curley to be identified as the
Author of this Work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without prior permission in
writing of the Publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-906417-59-8
Printed and bound in China
Notes on measurements:
All recipes contain metric and imperial measurements
followed by US/ Australian cup conversions for relevant
ingredients. Use one set of measurements only and
not a mixture. US/ Australian terms have also been
included in brackets where relevant.
Foreword 6
I
An Approach to Chocolate 8
Chocolate Essentials I 0
Bouchees 108
• Ca~es & Biscuits
Patisserie
Ingredients & Equipment 218
220
Directory & Acknowledgements 224
FOREWORD
I was very pleased that Wil~am approached me to
write this foreword for his eagerly anticipated book.
In my 35 years in the business very few artists have
come along as good as William - he is a fantastic
pastry chef and outstanding chocolatier.
He was an enthusiastic young lad when he started
working for me at La Tante Claire - always giving
I 00%, asking questions, trying out new recipes and
methods, continually striving to create innovative and
exciting dishes by coristantly pushing the boundar ies
and challenging his ability.
The foundation in my kitchen was making everything
from scratch, not very common in restaurant
kitchens at that time. I believe that chefs should be
able to have the freedom to make what they want,
do what they want and become the chef that they
aspire to be. This is a philosophy that William shares
and has followed throughout his career. As a chef
you are constantly learning, every minute of every
day, you can never know it all, there is no finish line.
William entered my kitchen at La Tante Claire as a
commis chef, responsible for petit fours, and left as
an extremely talented pastry chef. He continued
to grow his career by building his foundations and
gained ground by working at some of the world's
most renowned restaurants. Later William became
Chef Patissier at The Savoy,w here he met his wife
Suzue. William and Suzue now have two incredible
chocolate and patisserie shops in Richmond and
Belgravia. In Paris there are a vast number of fine
patisseries and chocolate shops, but in the UK there
are very few and if you are going to visit qne, William
Curley's should definitely be at the top of your list.
This book is a detailed insight into William's
chocolates and patisseries and the ideas and
inspirations behind his innovative flavour
combinations and should have pride of place in
every chocolate lover's kitchen.
PierreK offmann
AN APPROACH TO CHOCOLA TE
My aim in this book is to introducey ou to my worldo f chocolate,
what inspiresa nd excites me and the influenceso n my work.
Youw illl earn how to temper chocolatea nd make a ganache,
and once you begin to understand the basic techniquesy ou
willb e ready to try a wide range of contemporaryc hocolates,
patisserie,b ouchees, cakes, biscuitsa nd ice creams.
I grew up on the East coast of Scotland and although my
grandmother was a wonderful cook I could never have dreamt that
I would one day carve out a career as a patissier-chocolatier. I left
school with no formal qualifications and enrolled at a local college
and was immediately drawn to cooking - bakewell tart, chocolate
eeali rs and Dundee cake ... it was hard to resist Two years later I
became an eager apprentice at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire under
the legendary Ian Ironside and my love affair with being a patissier
chocolatier had begun. My career was now in full flow and the kitchen
of Pierre Koffmann's three-Michelin-starred restaurant. La Tante
Claire, beckoned. He really opened the door for me and sent my
- career in the right direction; from there the great chefs Raymond
Blanc, Marco Pierre White, Anton Edelmann and Marc Meneau
have all instilled the most important aspect of my work ... never
compromise.
I have always believed in using the very best ingredients - the
finest couverture is essential, everything should be fresh and
natural, avoiding artificial preservatives, flavourings and additives.
It is important for young chefs to have a strong foundation in their
work. For me, as you will see in this book, taking classical dishes
and recipes and modernizing is very important. You'll find classic patisserie such
as Mille-feuille (see page 166) through to Japanese-inspired Apricot & Wasabi
Chocolates (see page 72). I also want to make people smile with the Orange
Teacakes (see page 126) and Chocolate Coconut Bar (see page 114) - our
homage to famous chocolate bars. I enjoy being creative and experimenting with
new dishes and combinations - looking for marriages that you wouldn't imagine is
also a great challenge.
Through Suzue I am very much inspired by Japan, with it's vibrant patisserie and
chocolate scene, but I always cherish my trips to France - it wasn't so long ago,
before Eurostar, that I would jump on the night bus to Paris and spend the weekend
wandering the streets, gazing into the patisserie and chocolate shops and eating
their wares, dreaming that one day I would have my own shop.
I am very enthusiastic about training and developing . ,,
young people. Our business is full of apprentices, ~' /
many of whom are now running the various // ,., ~) /
ue-,····/· ·/· / .-..- .
sections within our kitchen. In our craft it is so ----~,
V----
important to teach and inspire the / / .•·
. I
next generation. ,·
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