The book has five main sections after an introduction:  base recipes; sugar and chocolate; liquid and 'dry' jams, pastes such as biscuits, cakes marzipans, candied fruits and almonds and all manner of preserves; distillation and essential oils; and perfumes, drinks and recipes for home.  Le Confiseur concludes with an appendix of health recipes, a dictionary of basic ingredients and a professional vocabulary .  The recipes are generally written in the modern style with the ingredients and quantities listed before the method.  In the introduction, Machet states his intention to provide modern instructions from the sole point of view of the professional confectioner, noting that the only useful text (presumably Massiolot's Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, 1692) was now too old and limited in scope.

Little is known of Machet other than that he had worked as a confectioner in regional France and abroad but by 1803 was based in Paris.  In the preface he claims twenty years practical experience, and notes he was successfully making high quality sugared almonds in 1788, suggesting he was born approximately 1760 or earlier.  Clearly an experienced professional confectioner, Machet's recipes are detailed, sometimes ambitious and domestic recipes such as fruit cheeses are reserved for the smallest part of the text at its conclusion.  Machet also clearly had a recognised professional reputation as he also contributed to the 7th (1815) and 8th (1819) editions of Frederick Nutt's The Complete Confectioner.

A lovely solid copy of an important early nineteenth century professional reference on confectionery and distillation in original boards.