Amy's Bread: Artisan-Style Breads, Sandwiches, Pizzas, and More from New York City's Favorite Bakery

by Amy Scherber, Toy Kim Dupree, Aimée Herring

Finally--an updated, new edition of the beloved guide to bread bakingAmy's Bread is a legendary New York institution that serves some 50,000 customers every month and supplies bread to more than 300 restaurants and stores daily. Long out of print, "Amy's Bread" shares Amy Scherber's recipes and techniques for everything from basic loaves to artisan breads. Now fully revised and updated, this full-color edition includes more than fifty recipes for home bakers at every level of experience."Amy's Bread "starts with the basics like Big Beautiful White Pan Loaf and French Baguette before progressing to more complicated recipes like Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread with Oats and Pecans and Semolina Bread with Apricots and Sage. But there's more here than just bread--recipes for pizzas, sandwiches, and sweet treats are also included. - A helpful introduction covers basic bread baking techniques, starters, ingredients, and equipment - 130 full-color photos illustrate bread shaping and scoring techniques, as well as photos and personal stories that reveal the inner workings of the bakery - Artisan breads can cost $5 or more at the market; this book lets you make them at home for just a fraction of the cost Whether you've just discovered the joy of bread baking or you've been doing it for decades, this revised classic will keep your oven hot for years to come.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 17, 1996

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amy's Bread is a beautiful cookbook packed with color photographs and precise, detailed instructions. Beware - these recipes are not simple, or easy to throw together. Most of the recipes I tried required at least a half day with tasks every hour or so. Because the recipes are so time consuming I was skeptical, but oh the results! The bread I made from this cookbook was some of the most beautiful, full-flavored bread I have ever made. These loaves were well worth the extra effort. I made Golden Whole Wheat Bread, Crispy Bread Sticks with Anise, Coriander, and Mustard Seeds, and Fresh Rosemary Bread with Olive Oil.
My only complaint is that, in general, the breads were saltier than I like. Cutting the salt in half easily fixes that problem.

I have the new, 2010 version, and I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in bread baking!

[Lauren Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanting to embark on a final homemaking frontier, I got this book to show me the ropes of traditional breadmaking. I am convinced that I do not want a bread machine or even a loaf pan. The Koslow house will bake bread, with a relatively cool/slow rise, on our pizza stone! This book explains well the methods, ingredients, chemistry, and heart that goes into making good bread. The stories from the NYC shops are bonus.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can you not want to learn more after reading the following?

Big crusty rounds of country sourdough bread are coming out of the oven. Their color is almost that of dark walnut furniture, or rich sauteed mushrooms. The crusts are hard and cracked and ridges have formed where the loaves burst open from the intense oven heat. Each loaf smells like wheat and caramel and wonderful hot toast. They crackle and snap when they are removed from the oven, singing as their crusts shrink slightly in the cool, dry air. They are heavy but light: The hefty loaves feel hollow and airy inside, and their hard crusts protect a soft, moist crumb. The reward of seeing these fresh' baked loaves is the reason we are bakers. We hope that you will experience this pleasure too. It is these rustic loaves that fuel our memories and our imaginations and make us feel proud of the tradition we carry on.
[Introduction, p.xv]
~ ~ ~ ~
As each day passes, we refine our definition of the quintessential bread. It gets heartier, earthier, and more fragrant at each new level we reach. Mastering fermentation is the baker’s biggest challenge, and a good baker continues to learn and make changes. Like ours, your bread will get better and better with each new level of understanding. Our constant search for a better bread keeps us challenged and gives us something to look forward to. We hope you will also keep experimenting. Each time you make bread, you will become more skilled and more confident. Keep notes on what you try and what you learn. You will find your bread becoming more sophisticated, with a lighter crumb or a crunchier crust, with every new batch you make.
[Introduction, p.xvii]

[Inder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has come to be my second go-to bread book, after Secrets of a Jewish Baker: 125 Breads from Around the World and my first choice for recipes that call for a starter (like Biga or Poolish - I am ashamed to admit I have not yet tried a sourdough starter, must get on that!). The illustrations are very helpful and the simple white bread recipe just cannot be beat. Also, it cannot be ruined: I've tried several times and it always comes out magically buttery and delicious. However, be warned: When they say they like a dough "wet" they mean WET. A stand-mixer is almost a requirement for these doughs, as they are barely knead-able.

Great, great book for the intermediate bread-baker.

[HadiDee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. I started baking bread a few years ago and wanted to move beyond the plain white loaf and Sourdough (both excellent recipes from Nigella Lawson's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess"). So I borrowed a pile of baking books from the library and was so taken with this one that I bought it and the sister book "The Sweeter Side Of Amy's Bread" even though I hadn't seen the latter.

Both are excellent books. There's lots of technical information and explanations and the recipes are not easy. Many of them cover several pages and they can take a while to do. But everything I've made has been great.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

These breads are beautiful! Even when I bake bread from another recipe, I always use Amy's baking methods: About 20 minutes at 400 to 425, then another 20 minutes or so at about 350 to 375, pan of steaming water beneath the bread, and fine-spraying the tops with water periodically creates a wonderful crisp crust.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of baking bread, with some very helpful technical information. Having used Jim Lahey's _My Bread_ as my bread-making bible for the past few years, I'm tempted to see if I can take Amy's recipes that use poolish or biga and adapt them for Jim's technique.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many words....

[Amy Sjoquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only read about 30 pages to see if I liked it. Looking for good how-to books. I'd like to teach myself how to bake at some point. This has possibility.