Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Worth the dough! May 27, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you bake bread, or intend doing so, this book is definately worth buying. No, it isn't full of pretty pictures . . . what it is packed with though is everything you will ever need to know about bread. It is a history book, a recipe book, an advice book . . . and more. After reading the book and following the advice given I have made the best bread I have ever produced, in a simple and straightforward way. It is useful to know what WON'T work for the home baker too. If you have an oven, a baking tray and a bowl, you can make fantastic bread - and you will never want to eat that soft, doughy stuff supermarkets call bread ever again!
Simply the best book on Yeast cooking - Elizabeth David! April 11, 2006
68 out of 71 found this review helpful
`In this universally acclaimed book Elizabeth David deals with all aspects of flour milling, yeast, bread ovens and the different types of bread and flour available. The recipes cover yeast cookery of all kinds, and the many lovely, old-fashioned spiced breads, buns, pancakes and muffins, among others, are all described with her typical elegance and unrivalled knowledge.'
`Here is a real book, written with authority and enthusiasm - a collection of history, investigation, comment, recipes - Jane Grigson in the Observer.'
Dedicated to `Jill Norman`, an accomplished cookery writer in her own right, this is an exceptionally good price for this ED tome of 592 pages, split over two parts:-
Part I - History & Background
Part II - Recipes
Written with the typical ED flair, which is so popular with her readers and full of meticulously researched information, interspersed with the charming black and white illustrations (Wendy Jones) that so underline Elizabeth David books.
Part I
Chapters:-
Milling, Bread Flours and Meals, Yeast, Salt, Liquid and Fats used in Bread-making, Eggs, Dried Fruit, Sugar, Spices and Flavourings used in Yeast Cakes and Breads, Malt Extracts, Bread Ovens, The Bread Factories, Shapes and Names of English Loaves, Moulds and Tins for bread and Yeast Cakes, Storage of Meal and Flour, Weights of Loaves and the Assize of Bread, Weights, Measures and Temperatures, Weighing and Measuring Equipment and The Cost of Baking Your Own Bread.
Part II - RECIPES
Chapters:-
Bread, Baps and Rolls, Manchets and Mayn and Payndemayn, Crumpets and Muffins, Notes on French Bread, The Pizza and the Pissaladiere, Quiches with Yeast Dough, Sausage in Brioche Crust, Yeast Leavened Pancakes and Oatcakes, Dumplings and Doughnuts, Regional and Festival Yeast Cakes and Fruit Breads, Yeast Buns and Small Tea Cakes, French Yeast Cakes, Soda Breads, Bakestone Cakes or Breads, Toast, Biblio and Concise Index.
Over 300 pages packed full or all sorts of recipes that really do question 'what on earth they do to the bread in the shops........'.
`A tall, earthenware pancheon, glazed only on the inside, like a bread crock was always considered the best shape for mixing and raising yeast dough. From the 18th century until the mid 20th Century, bread pancheons were traditional products of many Welsh and English potteries.'
Page 252 starts with a recipe for `A Basic Loaf`, for a large loaf weighing 28 to 30 oz, or 800 to 850g.
`Potato Bread, usually associated with times of grain shortage or with a need for strict economy in the kitchen, is advocated by some 19th Century writers as being the best bread for toast. This is because a proportion of potato mixed with ordinary white flour makes a loaf, which retains its moisture and is also very light...........'
`Rice Bread is excellent for keeping since the rice remains moist and the texture is beautifully light and honey-combed. It is also a loaf which is very easy to mix and to bake.'
Scots Baps:-
`.....the bap is the breakfast roll of Scotland. Properly made and properly handled, it can justly be called `noble`...........'
`Aberdeen Rowies - a recipe for flaky buns, not unlike croissants although much less rich and consequently a great deal simpler and quicker to make. They don't look as showy a croissants but for all their homely appearance, I prefer them in some ways because they are light and small and ......surprising.'
Our overall favourite recipe is the variation on the `SALLY LUNN BUN' (Soleilune Cake)-
`My recipe for a Sally Lunn is simple, not very rich and relatively quick'.
11/04/06
A wonderfully enjoyable read. March 13, 2005
34 out of 55 found this review helpful
A real gem of a baking book that is filled with practical advice from a lady who had a great understanding of her subject.Great recipies for classic breads and yeasted cakes, think "chelsea buns". Amusing anecdotes and personal observations throughout, the writing style of this book has aged into a very warm read and adds greatly to it's charm. More than just a list of recipies, an insight into an interesting and informative home-baker. A must for anyone with an interest in baking that goes beyond pushing the buttons on a bread maker.
Bread is the stuff of life June 7, 2003
18 out of 51 found this review helpful
Simply the best book ever written about the making of bread, scones, chelsea buns, croissants; you name it it's in this book. Not forgetting the history of bread making from exodus onwards, the iniquities of sliced bread and the dubious practices of flour millers and bread manufacturers in the UK & elsewhere. You will also find out how to make basic brown, white, wholemeal, malted, anything you like loaves. Using fresh or dried yeast. Dear god you even get told how to make your own yeast and keep it. You want to make bread - buy this book, you will never knead another. Why else do you think it's always on the verge of selling out.
Bread for Life May 9, 2003
7 out of 40 found this review helpful
This is "faites simple" the best book you are ever going to get on the subject of baking. It contains an exhaustive collection of receipts, everything from plain Brown Wholemeal or Saffron Cake to Drop Scones and Croissants. In it you will find the history of baking; courteous, but firm, explanations about the uses for different types of flour. How to use yeast? What is Baking Powder? Enquire within on any point connected with baking and Miss David has the answer. You rail against the state of shop bought bread, well you won't find a better more thorough condemnation of the article than is written here. Any cookery writer unafraid to confess that after a while the making of croissants induces "combat fatigue" gets my vote.
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