Advanced Bread and Pastry

This book is written mostly for "the trade", but the home-chef (like me) can get a lot out of it. Apart from Bread and Pastry, it has extensive chapters on cakes, icings, cookies, chocolate(confection), ice-cream and quick breads (banana bread, scones, muffins) amongst other things. It is very comprehensive. The science can be understood by almost everyone, and the book is well illustrated (pictures of how to shape a baguette, etc). There are no "stories" from the author about how he first made this and that, and learnt this from there - and so forth. It reads like a school book. Very informative! I was at first worried that this book had 1000's of recipes, but it says on the back that it has just under 300, which means there is a lot of theory in it (which I think is good). I has 2 Pannetone recipes and about 4 Croissant recipes. It has sachertorte, and black forest gateu, chocolate truffles and loads of other stuff. The carrot cake recipe is the best I've ever tried, and I've ended up using ALL the sections in the book (except for the ice-cream chapter), even though I only bought it for the Bread/Pastry initially. For me there is one problem: I don't have a Mixer. That makes it hard to to follow the bread formulas (recipes) 100% accurately. There is enough science in the book, that you might find a "do-it-yourself" way if you experiment (at least I hope so). In each bread formula in the book the author will specify what type of mix method to use: Short, Improved or Intensive (which basically is the 3 diffent speeds of the mixer kneading the dough). - "Shortmix" is almost like kneading by hand, however quite few recipes call for a short mix. - "Improvedmix" one can almost replicate by hand (but one might need to experiment with longer fermentation times and yeast amount to compensate and get a stronger dough). - However I am more sceptical about for instance Pannetone and Brioche which call for an "Intesivemix", which is difficult by hand. Luckily there are quite few recipes that call for this mix method. Only bread with a lot of butter/sugar/eggs. But there is a "handmix" recipe for croissants. When it comes to Ovens there is no discussion on how to compensate for lack of steam (the book is as I say, written for the apprentice/prof. in mind). One last thing: I've had no problems with quantities in the recipes, because he always gives a so-called "test" amount (in OZ). But you can also divide the grams and kg. by 5 to get the right "home" batch if you use the metric system (I live in Norway, so i do). Conclusion: I would recommend this book to the home-chef, but be prepared for a challenge :)

I’ve spent a long time debating if I should buy this book, but when I saw it for the best sale I ever saw, I decided to give it a try. Best decision ever! I wish I had bought it earlier, so i wouldn’t have bought at least half of the books I have on my library. This book is amazing, it’s complete. It explains, the chemistry, the logics, the tricks and all you need to understand to not only bake the best bread, but also to create your own recipes. The author presents the formulas, in US and metrics, so you can play with it and change the quantities. Once you feel more confident you can also change ingredients. However, I wouldn’t recommend it as a first book to bake your first bake, it can be too overwhelming . But you also don’t need to buy another book. The internet has a lot of resources with great recipes to practice it. After some practicing, this book is the best resource. The only negative point, is that, the online resources are no longer available and you cannot see the videos anymore. Anyway, if you’re serious about improving your baking skills, this is a great resource.

I bought this book to deepen my knowledge behind the science of bread. This book is straight to the point and explains every step of the process in great detail so that you truly understand "why". This book is made for those aspiring to bake in a professional setting in large batches. The author writes on the process in great detail, which is applied to every one of his recipes. His recipes are not like your typical written recipe; rather, they're formulas which are understood easily once you've read the book. Though this is a textbook, I do recommend this book if you are looking to truly master and understand bread to the deepest extent.

Este libro no es para entusiastas que cocinan en sus casas. Es un libro con contenido para profesionales o personas que trabajan en gastronomía en el rubro de panadería y pastelería. Yo trabajo en pizzería y también me sirvió mucho. Considero este libro como un infaltable en la bibliografía de cualquier persona que trabaje en el rubro.

Well, I have studied with the author at SFBI, and this has been my baking "bible". It is an absolute great book for serious or professional bakers. Honestly, it is probably more information than a home baker would need just to produce some nice bread, There are lots of recipes but also much theory included - not just "do this, then do this, now do that..." It is all understandably written and interesting - not overly dry.(English is not my first language, and I have no trouble). If you want to learn WHY some things work or don't work in baking, which helps you create your own recipes, then this is very much an essential book.

All I was looking for! Finally a book that actually has a very logical explanation for all my questions. When other books say: cream the butter. DOT. This book explains you, why you cream the butter, how you cream the buttery, what happens when you cream the butter and what might go wrong while you are creaming the butter. This is the most extensive book on bread and pastry I have purchased so far. And I have a bunch of other great books like Vahlrona Chocolate bible, Pierre Hermé macaron book, Sarabeths Bakery book, French Patisserie book, Cedric Legrolet Les Fruits and so on. I’ve purchased this book for about $115,- I don’t know if the price has always been this high but it is definitely worth it. My book arrived with a sticky kind of fingers on the outside cover, I was a little pissed, but managed to clean it off and once I opened the book I couldn’t even be bothered to return it. It’s that good.

This review will cover only the Bread portion of this book. Which really is the reason I bought it in first place. Ths is a BIG book with comprehensive coverage of bread and pastry with many technical terms..The language is a little bit academical but that didn`t bother me. This is an ADVANCED Bread and Pastry after all... It is clearly not for the beginner, but don`t let that discourage you. The recipe presentations are clear to follow and most importantly to the point. That`s the strength of this book, it goes straigh to the point. NO nonsense knowledge. Every phrase has its place in conveying the meaning. Most of the explanations are intended to be focused more on proffessionals bakers but are easily adapted in home environment. Also the recipes are given in bakers percentages and could be easily increased or decreased. The recipes give excellent results which is a truly gratifying experience. I mean they really work and give good results and tasteful bread. The book fails though to emphasize the importance of having the right equipment that really makes the differrence. Not so many words about baking stones about steaming equipment and the effects the have on the end product (which is quite noticeable).. Mixing chapter is good but i would recommend to complete by reading the mixing chapter of Bread Baking: An Artisan's Perspective of Daniel T. di Muzio. I would have liked to have more details about differrent ovens and their advantages (Bread Baking: An Artisan's Perspective -- does a great job on this). I would have liked to have better pictures for each of the bread instead of showing 5 breas in one page --- i guess is more economical. I would have liked to see more pictures or explanations for some of the end products that are not so easy to follow. I would deffinitely would want a dvd with some videos to some dough in the making. Like the other reviewers before me I would agree that this is not for the beginners and the info it provides could be intimidating, but once you get over it and go to the recipes you will end having excellent results.. This book makes me feel more confident and more in control about bread making process and together with Bread Baking: An Artisan's Perspective of Daniel T. di Muzio this book will give you more than enough tools and information to ``feel`` the art of baking and not only blindly follow the recipe.

Just to note, I have only had the book for two days. I wish I had this book earlier in my pastry career. Of all the books I have, the bread section on this book is probably the most extensive. The book goes over autolyse as well as when to add preferments when autolysing, a question I have had for a while. The most common breads have recipes that uses different preferments. Sadly, the book does not talk about using freshly ground flour in bread baking. I wish there were more variations in some of the recipes in the book. For example, a few ways to flavor pastry cream and creme anglaise are mentioned, and measurements are given, but more creative flavorings are left out. The book is the most extensive baking book I have seen, but it does not cover using fruit purees in pastry cream or using custard powder or flour for pastry cream. The cakes in the book cover a few classics and a few idea, that to me, seem original.