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Advanced Bread and Pastry
Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach is a comprehensive guide to bread, viennoiserie, and pastry that is designed for students, professionals, and enthusiasts. Balancing a respect for tradition with modern approaches to method and technique, Advanced Bread and Pastry unites appealing presentation and indispensable instruction. It is written to help today's baker respond to the recent evolution of ingredients, products, and presentation. The recipes (called formulas) are based on a variety of classica methods and processes. With this strong foundation of knowledge, a baker or pastry chef can develop further skills, experiment with new ideas, and understand any formula.
1043 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2008
32 people are currently reading
744 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 9, 2019
I debated waiting until I baked every single formula in this massive tome before marking it "read" here. The debate is over. I have not baked through this textbook cover to cover. I mean I will, I am, but unless the formulas are *very* different from the first 10 I'm confident reviewing the introductory chapters for each section and a third of the bread formulas as baked is enough.
I'm actually documenting my progress through this book on Instagram if you'd like a real-time preview of each formula and chapter. Just search for my name and you can follow along
In short, this is the best baking book I've read/baked through and if you, like me, really throw yourself into your hobbies you won't be disappointed with it either.
Every year I commit to cooking through a recipe book from start to finish. It all started years ago with Mastering the Art of French Cooking, inspired by the movie based on Julie Powell's Julie & Julia. Since that first project I've tackled Hazan's Italy and Bayless' Mexico but this year I decided to feed my inner baker and chose this as my launching point. Well it will take me a few years to finish at my weekend baker pace but I will certainly get there.
The science and technique are thoroughly explained for each stage of the break making process and I've already surpassed my former bread machine results simply because I have a much better understanding of what happens to all that flour, water, and yeast as it transforms into boules of thigh thickening magic.
I've also noticed a certain pedagogy to the way each formula is introduced. It isn't apparent from a glance if you, like me, had never successfully hand kneaded a baguette but each formula leads onto the next. The result is an accumulation of skills and confidence for all manner of dough situations: wet, dense, enriched, or slow to rise.
I'm actually documenting my progress through this book on Instagram if you'd like a real-time preview of each formula and chapter. Just search for my name and you can follow along
In short, this is the best baking book I've read/baked through and if you, like me, really throw yourself into your hobbies you won't be disappointed with it either.
Every year I commit to cooking through a recipe book from start to finish. It all started years ago with Mastering the Art of French Cooking, inspired by the movie based on Julie Powell's Julie & Julia. Since that first project I've tackled Hazan's Italy and Bayless' Mexico but this year I decided to feed my inner baker and chose this as my launching point. Well it will take me a few years to finish at my weekend baker pace but I will certainly get there.
The science and technique are thoroughly explained for each stage of the break making process and I've already surpassed my former bread machine results simply because I have a much better understanding of what happens to all that flour, water, and yeast as it transforms into boules of thigh thickening magic.
I've also noticed a certain pedagogy to the way each formula is introduced. It isn't apparent from a glance if you, like me, had never successfully hand kneaded a baguette but each formula leads onto the next. The result is an accumulation of skills and confidence for all manner of dough situations: wet, dense, enriched, or slow to rise.
November 21, 2009
Very comprehensive guide to baking and pastry. Don't let the title fool you-- equal care is given to both the bread and pastry sections, enough that it could easily have been split into two different books.
What I like most about this book, in particular with regards to the bread section, is the scientific detail given to difficult concepts usually not seen in your average bread book-- the sourdough section is, dare I say, revolutionary.
The pastries cover everything from your most basic "diamond" cookie to your unassailable Bouche de Noel. But don't worry, the recipes you can do at home far outweigh the ones you might only see in a very high end pastry shop.
My only gripe is that some of the recipes seem a bit convoluted. I mean, two types of starch (pastry flour and potato starch), as well as two types of sugar (white and invert) in a simple genoise sponge? Really? In a streamlined pastry shop these details are absolutely essential. For 95% of the people buying this book, it's a bit much.
What I like most about this book, in particular with regards to the bread section, is the scientific detail given to difficult concepts usually not seen in your average bread book-- the sourdough section is, dare I say, revolutionary.
The pastries cover everything from your most basic "diamond" cookie to your unassailable Bouche de Noel. But don't worry, the recipes you can do at home far outweigh the ones you might only see in a very high end pastry shop.
My only gripe is that some of the recipes seem a bit convoluted. I mean, two types of starch (pastry flour and potato starch), as well as two types of sugar (white and invert) in a simple genoise sponge? Really? In a streamlined pastry shop these details are absolutely essential. For 95% of the people buying this book, it's a bit much.
September 8, 2010
Fabulous book for the professional, the advanced amateur, or the VERY ambitious novice. Really, you have to have a fair amount of bread baking experience to really understand what a tremendous resource this book is.
October 11, 2014
If you only own one book on bread and pastry , this should be it. Absolutely the best in every way.
March 19, 2024
This must have a professional baking book. I purchased mine two months ago.. and man, this s a game changer..it answers all the questions and more. I have got my small library of Baking books. But I can tell you if I was asked to choose only one book.. this s could be th one I can choose.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2020
A must read for anyone who wants to start professional baking. This book provides a good foundation for a broad spectrum of pastry and baking.
September 28, 2021
This is an excellent resource, with wonderful photo essays.
There is a terrific section on traditional scoring, using either straight or curved blades.
There is a terrific section on traditional scoring, using either straight or curved blades.
October 3, 2015
A massive tome at over 1000 pages, chock full of formulas and a vast section on the process of bread and pastry baking. Probably not a great hoice for someone just beginning their journey in baking but if you've got some experience and really want to develop your skills and repertoire, this is an amazing book to add to your collection.
I've set this as "currently reading" as it is a resource someone will refer back to over and over; you never actually "finish" it.
I've set this as "currently reading" as it is a resource someone will refer back to over and over; you never actually "finish" it.
November 23, 2024
Very thorough, full of recipes. However, it would be awkward to be used in the kitchen so it would work better if the recipes were included separately. It is also overly verbose (adding significantly to the weight of the tome) and full of contradictory instructions.
May 14, 2015
Very thorough and scientific approach. Quantities in percentages, farinograph... obviously intended for professionals. Still, lots of useful info for anyone interested in bread and pastry.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews