Dessert Professional Magazine

Recently three well-known professional magazines, Pastry Art & Design, Frozen Desserts, and Chocolatier, were combined and incorporated into one new publication, Dessert Professional . In the July/August 2008 premiere issue, the editor stated that the reason for the change is the trend for pastry, chocolate, and ice cream professionals to expand and "diversify" across product lines. Quoting Michael Schnieder's letter, "Dessert Professional will continue to offer the departments and features of the original three magazines, and include more valuable information on techniques, trends, new products and equipment than ever before."

There is also a new website, dessertprofessional.com. The website is more of a social networking type of setup. Users can sign up and view the forums, create a blog, share photos and videos, join groups, and keep up with special event dates. There aren't that many members (less than 100) that have signed up so far, but I assume this number will grow in time.

How does the new magazine compare? It seems to be getting mixed reviews. Personally, I have read Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design, and I am totally fine with the incorporation into one publication. However, others are not so happy. The general consensus amongst those individuals is that there are too many ads, and not as much substance. I agree that the ad ratio is quite high compared to other magazines, but I like to see product information. I'm sure they will be tweaking future issues and it will all work out. A magazine has to make money, but people won't pay a subscription just to see ads. Overall, I like Dessert Professional and would recommend it.