Convenience. Who wants to use a bread machine if using it requires as much effort as baking bread by hand? No one. You’ve bought a bread machine in the hope of being able to make mouthwatering bread easily and effortlessly at home. To achieve the desired level of convenience, you need impeccable recipes that will deliver the perfectly baked bread you’re looking for without constantly checking whether your bread is okay or not. Marie Folher is a baker and confectioner. Having baked countless different baked goods during her career, she’s become super familiar with baking. For Folher , baking the perfect loaf of bread is more than just a pleasure – it’s a way of art, it’s passion. Her obsession with well-made bread has led her to put incredible amounts of energy into perfecting her methods, techniques and formulas. Her effort has paid off; Today, she receives numerous compliments for her world-class loaves of bread every day. Bread Machine Cookbook translates Folher’s successful bread recipes into a suitable form for any type of bread machine. Folher has backtested all the recipes multiple times on different types of bread machines to make sure all of them will result in top-quality bread every time on your very own bread machine too. She has created impeccable recipes that will give you a chance to make high-quality bread which will stand up against those made by hand. In the hassle-free pages of this Bread Machine Cookbook , you’ll discover… You’ll discover a great variety of different recipes that will help you to make bread easily and effortlessly with your very own bread machine. The recipes vary from traditional to more experimental flavors so there are many delicious recipes for your own, unique taste. Using your bread machine doesn’t have to be nerve-racking anymore. With simple but high-quality recipes and proper instructions, you'll be able to bake bread that looks beautiful and tastes heavenly good without wasting too much of your precious time. Beginner or veteran, your bread will be extremely tasteful.
I have used a bread machine for decades at this point (and even ran a specialty food store where I sold my own bread machine mixes), and I have to say that this is a rather peculiar bread machine book because of the way the author writes the directions.
The very short introduction is more of a cheerleading section, attempting to get you ready to want to use your bread machine. It has no section for any specific hints or tips. I have used the bread machine for so long that I actually think a hint or suggestion section in a cookbook is important. Bread machines can be a little temperamental at times, but there are easy ways to avoid the most simple and common problems. It would have been nice if the author had included this kind of helpful section
The book is broadly divided into two sections after the introductions: savory and sweet. Each recipe has a photo, but the bulk of the photos are not actually of the recipe they go with. They just look like something similar. How do I know this? This author has you bake most of the breads right in the bread machine, but few, if any, have the telltale shape and marks that a bread machine loaf would have. One of them clearly shows a loaf in the shape of a boule, which I don't think can be achieved with any bread machine on the market.
I found the directions to be odd in several places. As this is a bread machine recipe book, the format of each recipe is very similar. For some reason, the author thinks she has to tell you to plug in your bread machine at the beginning of every recipe as well as remind you of the machine capacity needed. I'm hoping that if you are attempting a machine-made loaf, you know that you would need to plug the machine in! And the bread machine capacity is very clear because the author actually lists it as a line item at the top of the recipe!
She also has you put the ingredients in the machine in the order that she lists. For every bread machine owner, however, this may not be the same. Some machines have you put the wet ingredients on the bottom while others have you put in the dry ingredients first. So instead of her direction to put in the ingredients as she lists them—and yes she does literally say this as a direction—she just should have said something along the lines of, “Put the ingredients in the machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.”
But there was an even greater problem with these directions. For some reason, the author likes to have you knead the dough in a particular, peculiar fashion. Rather than just choosing a bake cycle like white or sweet, she has you pulse the off/on button to form the dough, like you would pulse a food processor. I have made countless loaves of bread-machine breads in a variety of machines, and I have never employed that method. Ever. Or even heard of it. I trust whatever cycle I choose, from straight-up doughs that I will take out of the machine and shape myself and ones that I will let the machine bake for me.
I did not test out any of these recipes, but some titles and ingredient combinations looked good. If you have any experience whatsoever with your bread machine, I recommend following your standard procedures for making bread rather than following her directions.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
A well written bread making book with quite q few recipes I will be making when I get a new machine as mine has quit. There was one recipe I have been looking for since I moved and can not find my book for it, so I was really happy that it was in this one. This is just one of the recipes that are new to me that I will be trying Ginger and Fruity Tea Bread. This book covers Savory Bread Recipes, Sweet Bread Recipes. There is even a Saffron Bread recipe. I recommend this book.
These had MANY recipes. Too many to choose from to try! Now a part of me is wanting to get a bread making machine! Now I am wanting to get out, and go and get one. This is going to be something I want to use during this pandemic lockdown!