Customer Reviews

The Bread Book: A Baker's Almanac

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This was one of my first cookbooks and still one of my favorites. (I have the first edition.) For each month of the year there are 5-6 recipes including (usually) a yeast bread, a sourdough, a quick bread, and a sweet bread--all appropriate to the season. The cheese bread (October) and pumpernickel (November) are favorites! The photos are from the first edition, published in the 70s, and are humorously appropriate to that era--lots of long-haired, peaceful looking types mixing dough out in the woods!

The Bread Book, A Baker's Almanac, is a lovely, down to earth, informative bread making book, especially for those of us that are fairly new bread makers. The author firmly believes in making bread easy and flexible. It is not necessarily a book for experienced bread makers who prefer precision, because the author says quite clearly that you are free to use butter instead of lard, for instance, if you don't have or like lard...the same for sugar and honey, etc. Her avid interest is in encouraging everyone to learn bread making, therefore, she gives lots of ways to make it easy so that no one really has an excuse for not believing they can give it a go and be successful.

The recipes are really wonderful, wholesome and easy to follow. Her Farmhouse Potato Bread is a prime example and the one that I give most often as a gift because people really love it. Many of her recipes do not require any kneading, if that is something one doesn't wish to do. Ingredients used are ones that are usually available in a home pantry.

This is my favorite bread book to turn to when I want to bake something special and can feel confident that it will turn out lovely and delicious.

If you can get your hands on this book buy it! I have had 4 copies in 35 years and bought multiple for gifts. We bake bread twice a day for 15-20 folks and this book will make sure you don't run out of ideas. Clearly written with step by step instructions it is easy to follow and has simple quick breads, donuts and more traditional yeast breads.

I have three bread books and this is still my favorite. It has an introductory section for beginners and a beginners recipe. The recipes are much easier to follow than those in the bread book put out by Laurel's Kitchen. The recipes are based on baking traditions from around the world and include recipes for batter breads as well as yeast breads.