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erinnejc's review
4.0
This is a gorgeous book!! As someone who is just starting out making there own bread there is so much information in this book, I can't wai to continue to learn and try new recipes. Great book!!
acrigger's review
4.0
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for review.
I love this book! Descriptive in the right places and the recipes worked out great! After downloading this book and reading the first few pages, I grabbed my purse and ran to the grocery store. Over a few days, I made two of the loaves. I may make more, but my family is threatening to take away my dough hook.
The first one I tried was the three cheese bread with kalamata olives. It seemed slightly oily at first, but I'm pretty sure this was due to leaving the cheeses in large chunks. So yummy. Even my 10 year old loved it. My only changes for next time will be to add smaller pieces of the add-ins.
Since these are make-ahead, I prepped my second loaf the next day while the first one cooked. My second choice to try was the bacon, cheddar, and tomato loaf. I chose to cut the add-ins much smaller this time. My ninja blender made quick work of the sun-dried tomatoes and bacon. The loaf turned out beautifully with a nice dark crust. The tomatoes and bacon were well distributed throughout the loaf. We had spaghetti last night and this was great alongside the plain sauce.
I really enjoyed this book and plan to add it to my (very small) cookbook library.
I love this book! Descriptive in the right places and the recipes worked out great! After downloading this book and reading the first few pages, I grabbed my purse and ran to the grocery store. Over a few days, I made two of the loaves. I may make more, but my family is threatening to take away my dough hook.
The first one I tried was the three cheese bread with kalamata olives. It seemed slightly oily at first, but I'm pretty sure this was due to leaving the cheeses in large chunks. So yummy. Even my 10 year old loved it. My only changes for next time will be to add smaller pieces of the add-ins.
Since these are make-ahead, I prepped my second loaf the next day while the first one cooked. My second choice to try was the bacon, cheddar, and tomato loaf. I chose to cut the add-ins much smaller this time. My ninja blender made quick work of the sun-dried tomatoes and bacon. The loaf turned out beautifully with a nice dark crust. The tomatoes and bacon were well distributed throughout the loaf. We had spaghetti last night and this was great alongside the plain sauce.
I really enjoyed this book and plan to add it to my (very small) cookbook library.
crasscasualty's review
5.0
I recently became obsessed with baking bread. For me, the appeal of baking is twofold;firstly, it's a tangible connection to my past. There's something magical about making something the way your great great great great great great grandma did. Secondly, the chemistry and science of baking fascinates me. Yeasted bread in particular is an incredibly complex and precise chemical process.
Because of this newfound obsession, I really found Make Ahead Bread useful. It runs the bread gamut. There are sections on loaves, rolls, flatbreads, pastries, spreads, and even what to do with bready leftovers. Thankfully, there are no tedious personal anecdotes accompanying the recipes (which is probably my biggest cookbook pet peeve. Seriously, not one cares about your honeymoon in Martha's Vineyard). The recipes themselves are pretty varied in flavor profiles and techniques; some good ones I made were the yeasted aebleskivers, naan, lemon danish, and tomato, cheddar, and bacon loaf. As someone relatively new to breadmaking, I appreciate that the author was very specific about rising times. As anyone who has ever made bread knows, over or under proving can destroy an otherwise good loaf.
The only real gripe I have is that the weights of each ingredient is not listed with the recipe; you have to flip to the back to look at the conversion chart. I prefer to cook with weights because that kind of precision matters in baking. It would just make life easier if i didn't have to translate every recipe into weights
I'd recommend this book to someone who already has some experience making bread. There's no information apart from a definition about kneading or how to properly shape loaves, both of which are essential to having your bread turn out well. Having learned how to do those things via Youtube, I was able to navigate the book without issue.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley.
Because of this newfound obsession, I really found Make Ahead Bread useful. It runs the bread gamut. There are sections on loaves, rolls, flatbreads, pastries, spreads, and even what to do with bready leftovers. Thankfully, there are no tedious personal anecdotes accompanying the recipes (which is probably my biggest cookbook pet peeve. Seriously, not one cares about your honeymoon in Martha's Vineyard). The recipes themselves are pretty varied in flavor profiles and techniques; some good ones I made were the yeasted aebleskivers, naan, lemon danish, and tomato, cheddar, and bacon loaf. As someone relatively new to breadmaking, I appreciate that the author was very specific about rising times. As anyone who has ever made bread knows, over or under proving can destroy an otherwise good loaf.
The only real gripe I have is that the weights of each ingredient is not listed with the recipe; you have to flip to the back to look at the conversion chart. I prefer to cook with weights because that kind of precision matters in baking. It would just make life easier if i didn't have to translate every recipe into weights
I'd recommend this book to someone who already has some experience making bread. There's no information apart from a definition about kneading or how to properly shape loaves, both of which are essential to having your bread turn out well. Having learned how to do those things via Youtube, I was able to navigate the book without issue.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley.
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