Make Ahead Bread: 100 Recipes for Melt-in-Your-Mouth Fresh Bread Every Day

Author:  Donna Currie
Genre:  Cookbooks/Baking

Paperback, Ebook
ISBN #:  9781627103954
Taunton Press
208 Pages
$14.60; $15.99 Amazon
November 4, 2014

Five Stars

Two steps to Baking Bread.  Make Ahead Bread de-mystifies the bread-baking proess with simple recipes and easy-to-follow steps for fresh-from-the-oven bread.  Plus there's an entire chapter devoted to baking ingredients and equipment.  Follow home baker Donna Currie's simple two-step process to baking delicious, fresh, yeast breads:

• Step One - mix and knead the dough, then let it rest for 1-2 days while you enjoy life
• Step Two - bake.

Yes, it's that simple.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Breads.  Your home will smell amazing while you bake any of the 100 recipes in Make Ahead Bread, including all of these:

• Loaf Breads - Bacon, Tomato and Cheddar Loaf; Maple Sugar and Walnut Loaf
• Buns, Rolls, Breadsticks - Slider Buns; Cheesy Breadstick Twists
• Flatbreads - Chicago-style Pan Pizza; Semolina Focaccia
• Pastries - Breakfast Sausage Danish; Traditional Croissants, and more.

Now, you're never too busy to bake bread!  Yeast bread isn't complicated to make, but because it needs time to rise, it's not always easy to fit it into time available - that's until now.  Make Ahead Bread gives inexperienced bakers and busy home cooks the information you need to make flavorful, freshly baked bread on a schedule that works for you.

Leftovers?  Just in case you have any leftovers, this book also features many recipes for your extra bread like Almond Butter Bread Pudding; Artichoke, Olive and Tomato Strata; and Overnight French Toast.  Plus recipes for scrumptious butters and spreads are included, such as:  Chunky Apple and Cinnamon Spread and Chocolate Butter, to name a few.

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I was intrigued by this cookbook because it doesn't have the usual recipes - plain white or wheat bread, etc.  These recipes are flavorful and interesting.  And I will note that it is exactly as the title states: Make Ahead Bread.  The recipes are geared toward prepping the bread a day or two ahead of time.  The drawback to this, however, is the fact that you will have to decide when you want to make bread.  Since the recipes call for the dough to rest overnight in most cases, you need to plan your breadmaking.  And not all are geared toward novice bakers.  The Kaiser Rolls, for example, could seem daunting to someone who doesn't have a lot of experience in baking, and the same could be said of the turnovers.  (Fortunately, I've been been baking since I was a pre-teen, so don't have that problem).  

Please also be aware that bread making, however simplified, isn't a done deal.  Because you are working with yeast, the recipes may not always turn out looking like the photos in the book (of which there are many, for those of you who like pictures with your recipes).  However, with a little patience and a lot of love, you should be cooking like a pro in no time.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1627103953?keywords=make%20ahead%20bread&qid=1453841380&ref_=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2&s=books&sr=1-1

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1526501096

  

Bread Making: A Practical Guide to All Aspects of Bread Making

Author:  Jane Eastoe
Genre:  Cooking & Baking

Five Stars

Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods and one of immense social and political significance.  In Britain we eat about 8 million loaves a day, most of it shop bought. But more and more people are now making their own bread. In this book, all the techniques, ingredients and the science of bread making are explained and in addition, a range of recipes are featured, including some from the National Trust.

The recipes include the basics such as Wholemeal, Granary, Rye, Corn and Farmhouse bread but there are also many regional specialities, such as Barmbrack, Bara Brith, English Muffins, Crumpets, Pikelets, Beer Bread, Welsh Cakes and Bath Buns too.  This attractive little book contains everything you need to inspire you to start  making your own bread.

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Since you're never going to have a long, protracted review of a cookbook, I will get right to the point:  A lovely book regarding the art of making bread.  There are some terrific recipes, and I especially like the English Muffins, Crumpets and Bath Buns.  None of the recipes are too difficult (at least the ones that I have already tried), and are even easy enough for a somewhat novice baker.  For anyone who has ever wanted to branch out their baking skills, this is highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Making-Recipes-Perfect-Home-made/dp/1907892788/