Customer Reviews

Amy's Bread

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book clearly explains how to create great breads without adding alot of yeast. The sponge starters create a "moist, chewy texture with more flavor, a nicer crust, and a longer shelf life than straight yeast breads." Amy is telling the truth. I've baked 2/3's of her breads and am totally happy with the results. I gave this book as a present to a friend who has never been able to achieve a truely Italian loaf of bread. She thought I was a master bread maker. The truth is Amy is a master bread maker and I can read and follow instructions. If you really want to create wonderful breads this is the book for you.

I can't say enough good things about this book. I bought the book as a beginning baker, and in the 10 months since diving into "Amy's Bread" I'm baking loaves that rival the local artisan bakery (really!). Looking for the perfect baguette? It's in there. Looking for a great white pan loaf? It's in there. The book has that rare combination of delightful recipes presented clearly and concisely; rock-solid technique and beautiful photography. The section on sourdough is one of the best sources I've found for understanding and making these types of breads. If you're interested in baking really great tasting bread and impressing the hell out of family and friends, this book is a must. A warning, however. Bread making is in inexact activity -- have patience and this book will reward you over and over again. And get yourself a bakestone.....you'll be using it alot from now on.

For those people who always wanted to know the ins and outs of bread making from scratch, this is, in my opinion, the definitive bread making book. The step by step instructions are almost fail safe. The beautiful photographs of the finished product are almost edible in themselves. And Ms. Scherber has a five day series of instructional progrmas shown frequently on the TV Food Network, where some of the recipes are available for downloading. I love this book. So much so, that I bought two copies.

This book has inspired me too also follow my dream of owning a bakery. The recipes are fabulous and easy to make with a easy to follow format.

The recipes in this book are truly delicious; however if you have trouble with sourdough starters, levain, and other non-yeast breads, you will find these recipes frustrating.

Amy, you need to write another bread book or at least bring out another edition of this gem!

I've been a homebaker for a lot of years and have a large assortment of bread baking cookbooks, but when I want something reliably wonderful I find my way back to this book. I disagree with the reviewer that says this book is mainly for sourdough recipes, there are some in the book, but there are more that are either straight doughs or that begin with a simple overnight biga or poolish.

The focaccias are simply the best I've found anywhere, be sure to try them with sliced tomatoes on top! And for a stellar Thanksgiving bread that will knock your guest's socks off, go for the pumpkin bread and no it isn't the usual quick bread recipe but a wondrous yeasted dough that screams Fall!

Please Amy, I know you've got more to give us, so GIVE!!! :)

I have a fairly large cooking library (which my wife regularly induces me to prune...). These authors did more to improve the quality of my product than any others I've read.

The principle of retarding the fermentation of the dough is presented clearly enough. Making a simple poulish or levain is not all that difficult. The only real complexity it adds to your life is planning some bread making ahead of time in order to allow for that slow fermentation to happen.

For me, refigerating dough overnight was the key to creating bread that was very near the quality of what you could buy in an artisanal bakery. I wouldn't have adopted that practice without this book. And trust me, you don't have to harvest leftover grapes from a vineyard to develop a decent starter (although I've done that, I confess). And you don't even have to maintain a starter to get excellent results. Simply modify the recipes to use a simple poulish would be my advice (and is often my practice).

The other major benefit of the book is that it actually attempts to explain how to form the dough into "not-your-usual-loaf-of-bread" shapes. Very few books even attempt to do that. I successfully made her beautiful dried appricot and fresh sage filled sunflower loaf on the first attempt. I get compliments on this very easy-to-make loaf every time I make it.

Finally, I probably actually use more recipes from this book than any other baking book I own. I'm making the sunflower loaf for a picnic dinner at Shakespeare Santa Cruz tomorrow evening, in fact. And I frequently make her white-and-black-sesame-seed-encrusted rolls.

So, my opionated opinion is: buy this book-- you won't regret it.

This is a good book with some great looking recipes. Unfortunately it arrived in such poor condition, with the binding falling apart and pages coming out that it will be difficult to use.

I have had this book since it first came out in 1996 and I love it. It is one of the best bread books around. Like other customers commented
the recipes do take time but they are worth it. I have ordered her new book just to see how she has tweaked some of the recipes. I am sure there are
other bread books out there that are just as good or better but this is one to have in your collection.

My son worked for Amy back in the early 90's. He is a fabulous baker and he learned from Amy. He said I should get this book and I am so glad I did. I have never had a bad outcome from anything in the book. I say buy the book!!