Bourke Street Bakery: The Ultimate Baking Companion [Hardcover]

Paul Allam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

Situated in the hip foodie enclave of Sydney's Surry Hills is the original Bourke Street Bakery, a cozy nook selling artisanal baked goods of the highest order. The bakery's long queue of customers waiting for their daily fix is testament to the popularity of their utterly delicious wares, from rustic breads such as their famous spelt sourdough to the flaky pork and fennel sausage rolls and the most addictive sweet pastries like ginger brulée and pistachio tart. Bourke Street Bakery is the ultimate baking companion with clear and concise instructions, aimed at the novice home baker while remaining an inspirational and technical reference for professionals of the crust and crumb world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Allam and David McGuinness are both chefs, bakers, and co-owners of the popular Bourke Street Bakery that first opened its doors in the bustling Sydney suburb of Surry Hills in 2004. The bakery quickly gained legendary status for its rustic bread, gourmet pies, and mouthwatering sweets.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Murdoch Books (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741964334
• ISBN-13: 978-1741964332
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book from an amazing bakery!, January 15, 2010

By 

Rach77 (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bourke Street Bakery: The Ultimate Baking Companion (Hardcover)

I purchased this book a few weeks ago and am in love with it!! The Bourke Street Bakery in Sydney Australia is one of my guilty pleasures that I try to stay away from because everything is so yummy. When I saw the book I couldn't resist...the pictures and are beautiful, and the recipes are extremely well thought out and explained. The bread making section has a huge amount of detail and many pictures to really demonstrate what you need to do. There are sweet, savory, breads, pastries, tarts, desserts etc all in this wonderful book. So far I have cooked the dark chocolate and raspberry muffins, the vanilla and strawberry brulee tarts, the leek and tart, and the pork and fennel sausage rolls... they all turned out amazingly well! I am not an experienced cook and am only just getting into baking so really think this is a book that has something for everyone. It would also make a really nice gift for someone who enjoys cooking. You won't be disappointed!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BOURKE STREET BAKERY, April 29, 2010

By 

R. Duffield (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bourke Street Bakery: The Ultimate Baking Companion (Hardcover)

What a fantastic book. I just love using it and the recipes are great. Today I made the banana cake and its to die for. Have also made pastry, pies and muffins and each recipe just works so well. Its a must buy book for anyone interested in home baking.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My #1 Baking Resource, May 4, 2011

By 

K. Gill "In the Kitchen With" (Nashville) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bourke Street Bakery: Ultimate Baking Companion [Paperback] (Paperback)

As I write this review, I have the croissant dough for Pain Au Chocolat from this book in the refrigerator resting. I have a ton of books, and started methodically teaching myself to bake with Carol Field's "The Italian Baker" and Nancy Silverton's "The Breads from La Brea Bakery". I considered them my baking bibles. Bourke Street Bakery has replaced them for a number a reasons.

(1) The breadth of the recipes is fantastic, from savoury to sweet and the recipes are good;
(2) The images demonstrating step by step are useful in helping you understand how the dough is supposed to look at various stages;
(3) The measurements, metric and imperial, are precise and leave no room for guessing, and they work;
(4) The instruction is detailed, clear, and concise; The introduction walks you through a basic understanding of how water, flour, and yeast work, and explains the process very clearly;
(5) The food photography (by one of my favorite photographers, Alan Benson) is sublime;
(6) It has all the Australian baked goods that I crave!

If you are considering this book, you should know that it is not really the kind of book that you will open and go into the kitchen and turn out something in an hour. There are some of those recipes in here, but it is a book based on a bakery, and any good bakery takes its time to make its goods, and so will you! For example, I am on day three of the croissant dough. Developing your own starter takes even longer. This is because much of the flavor in these baked good relies on a slow rise.

So, this is a book for someone who is not scared to delve into the world of baking, someone who would like to improve upon/add to their baking skills, or someone who has a great command of baking skills (bread doughs, laminated doughs, yeasted doughs, etc.)