In praise of Amazon:

I preordered Miette, by Meg Ray, last summer. As some of you know, it was full of mistakes. I read from the publisher that they would re-issue the book in October. So in October, I contacted Amazon. They sent me a new copy, but it was the same with the errors corrected on a pretty pink piece of cardboard. I wrote back and told them of the way the publisher had handled the corrections. They responded that they apologized and sent me a full refund from the first book. I thanked them, considered it done, and I would wait and re-purchase when the book had been corrected.

Guess what came in the mail today, a free, fully corrected book.

That is customer service. I had considered the matter closed with the refund. But they sent that new book anyway.

I have that book. What are the mistakes? I'm not sure which copy I have - is there a way to tell?? I haven't tried any of the recipes yet - was hoping to get to at least one next week.

Isn't that such a pleasant surprise when customer service acts like they actually like their customers! I have always liked Amazon. Now I like them even more!

That book is on my Christmas wish list (one of many). It just looks so pretty; one that would be fun to look at even if I don't use any of the recipes. I am glad to hear they have a fully corrected copy in publication now.

kaat, if you didn't just buy it, it may be wrong. The publisher offered to replace the book. I would email them.

Here is the errata page:

https://www.miette.com/main/book

So what are some of the good reasons to invest in this book? I'm a cookbook/recipe fanatic and am curious.....

I've only made two recipes from this book and I couldn't make one work. But, it is notoriously one of the most difficult recipes for many trained chefs. It's the gingerbread made with stout. My gingerbread is good, but this one is better. The problem is that it sinks. It isn't a Miette recipe, but somehow, they have stopped it from sinking. I'll tackle it again. I'm just not completely sure of how to correct stout, and I'm not alone. I did make it not sink, but the taste was compromised.

The second recipe, I modified quite a bit, but has become a favorite. On my site, it is the chocolate Chambord cake.

I bought the book for two reasons. One is that I have started offering smaller versions of my cakes in anticipation of my retail store. My cakes are not cheap, but not everyone needs an 8 or 9 inch cake. 6 inch cakes cut into 12 slices are plenty for a family or small group.

The other issue is that when I saw pictures of this bakery on the internet, she has it decorated very close to the plans I have for my retail bakery. My husband and I own a second home where he still spends 50% of his time, but I stopped going when my daughter was about 14. Even though it is smaller than my main house, it is the one I put my heart into decorating. It has light green walls, ornate distressed Victorian antiques painted white and natural, and it is beachy because the house is on the water outside of Annapolis. He says that it's crowded with furniture, and it really is. So my plan is to paint the walls the same green, bring back my much loved furniture, and make my bakery have the feel that was so important to me in the other home. Plus my husband won't complain about too much furniture. Even though my plans were made a few years ago and I have owned this furniture for years, it does look similar to Miette. My furniture is prettier because it is my personal collection, not originally meant for a store.

I read all of the books published by these popular bakeries. This one, in particular, shares my style. But I think her concept is interesting. She is not a chef that is revered by her peers. It is to those chefs that I look to for my baking inspiration. But she does have an interesting approach in style and marketing. So for recipes, I'm still a fan of Dorie Greenspan, Joanne Chang, David Lebovitz, Warren Brown, Sarabeth Levine, etc.

Well what do you know -- mine came today!!! Huh! I didn't even order the updated version, they sent it "just because" I guess! Cool! Now maybe I can make some of these recipes and make it work!

I was hoping you would see this, bob.

Try the gingerbread and see if you can crack the code. If you google it, you will see that it's the Rubic's Cube of recipes.

That's the kind of customer service I preach about... and practice, but it usually falls on deaf ears.

Wow...I bought this book and received it a month or so ago...haven't tried any recipes yet, but good to know about the corrections that need to be made. Thanks for sharing!