“Bread Illustrated” Review
As a home cook, one of the first things I learned from my mother was to bake. I loved baking cakes, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, and many other sweet treats. But as I grew older I fell in love with yeasted breads, they were much more complex, and since it wasn’t my mother’s strong suit I made sure it became mine. To this day I find joy trying to make all yeasted bread vegan, and I found the perfect cookbook that helped me learn more about making with yeast.
America’s Test Kitchen “Bread Illustrated” cookbook not only has the best foolproof recipes but also has a whole section explaining exactly how yeasted breads work, what are the best ways to tackle the recipes, and just make it easier for a home baker like me. This cookbook goes in depth on how to knead the dough correctly, why measuring your ingredients should be done with a scale instead of measuring cups, and what are the best ingredients to use. Simple tips to make my and your life easier when it comes to baking.
Some of the things I love about this cookbook are:
The pictures in all the recipes, and how detailed all the recipes are. The pictures not only tell you how to do it but the words are so well written to describe exactly what you have to do to make sure you don’t fail.
The information at the front of the book describes simple tips and instructions to make you a better baker.
The variations of recipes, this cookbook doesn’t only cover your everyday bread recipes, it also shows more complicated recipes like challah, croissants, breads with fillings/swirls, pita breads, and so much more.
Some of the recipes are already vegan, which makes it easier for those who are new to substituting egg in recipes.
I really like this cookbook it’s easy to use, easy to read, and of course really easy to follow.
Some of the things that could be improved:
As someone who is vegan, I wish they would give an egg substitute when making their recipes, but I’ve found the perfect one that works for me (2Tablespoons of aquafaba per egg).
Even though they have a lot of pictures in the book (1,000 pictures) they still missed some recipes which I would love to see the process of.
I think this book is very well organized and well written. I don’t have too much input to give as to what should be improved. I would recommend this cookbook to anyone who is new at baking yeasted bread to the most experienced baker out there. I’m sure you will find joy I did baking and eating the delicious breads from the America’s Test Kitchen “Bread Illustrated” cookbook.