Bourke Street Bakery: The Ultimate Baking Companion

by Paul Allam, David McGuinness, Alan Benson (Photographer)

Situated in the hip foodie enclave of Sydney's Surry Hills is the original Bourke Street Bakery - a cozy, rustic nook selling artisanal baked goods of the highest order. The bakery's long queue of customers waiting for their daily fix is testament to the popularity of their utterly delicious wares - from rustic breads such as their famous spelt sourdough to the flaky pork and fennel sausage rolls and the most addictive sweet pastries such as the ginger brulee and pistachio tart. "Bourke Street Bakery" is the ultimate baking companion with clear and concise instructions aimed at the novice home baker while remaining an inspirational and technical reference for professionals of the crust and crumb world. Passionate owner-bakers Paul Allam and David McGuinness share their secrets for more than 90 of their exceptional creations. This book's beautiful and inviting photography captures the mouthwatering detail of the buttery, crumbly fare as well as the infectious vibe of the bakery itself.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Margaret Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for COVID-19 isolation baking.

[Duy Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Roxy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of great recipes for both the regular home cook and the professional. There are recipes for starters and bread doughs that the average home baker would probably not spend the time as they lean more towards someone who is in the baking field. But the cake recipes further into the book are suitable for any level and sound delicious. One of my favourite bakeries in Sydney - it is great to know how all their gorgeous treats are made.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bourke Street Bakery is the place we go most Saturday mornings to buy our bread for the week. They make fantastic sourdough bread and equally fantastic sweet and savoury baked goodies. This book has recipes for all of their best loved offerings. I've decided that I would rather just buy the bread than attempt to make my own using a sourdough starter, but I've used the recipes to make things such as ginger brulee tart to soem acclaim. This is a great book!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, but definitely not for the novice cook, most of the recipes require you to plan either one day ahead or more and the ingredient list for most recipes are quite long, but let me tell you, well worth all the effort and time you invest into it!

I have not mastered every recipe in the book, in fact i am far from it, but i can see the potential is there i just need to perfect my technique


Highly recommend to any avid home baker

[Kim Box · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally the recipes for the treats we love from the local bakery I miss so much. This is as complete a guide to baking that anyone would want. Advice about choice of ingredients, tins and the reasons why. Clear instructions for creating marvels in a home kitchen from panini to little ginger brûlée tartlets.

[Vivian - · Rating 4 out of 5]

very informative on the different types of flour and ingredients

the only thing which bugs me is the fact that all the dessert/tart recipes are catered for baking batches of 20+ which isn't quite suited for domestic baking, otherwise it's a fantastic book!

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love their puff pastry recipe!
I am revising my review to now say that their croissant pastry recipe is my absolute go to recipe whenever the croissant mood strikes. People tell me they are better than the ones they have had in France. They take 4 days to prepare but they are SO worth it.

[Devilish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found many of the recipes here just flavour variations. However their sourdough recipe is pretty much my standard recipe now (well, in truth my recipe is a hydrid of this and Richard Bertinet's recipe). The apple and cinnamon loaf is pretty good too!!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salivatingly worthy recipes but Artisan breads to be sure. I am not quite ready to delve into this stuff but reading it is inspiring.

[Tanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to bake ALL these loaves!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the ultimate baking companion. The recipes are easy to follow and the results are delicious.

[The Lotus Eater · Rating 3 out of 5]

I confess, I got the book believing all the hype. I'm not so certain about it...