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The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge

Following on the idea begun with watching the film, Julie and Julia, over the December break in 2009 I decided to give "cooking a book" a try.

I had purchased The Bread Baker's Apprentice when it first came out, and (like I do with most cookbooks) found and used a couple of favorites. But this time I decided I would indeed aim to cook all the recipes in the book, abeit with a few twists.

There are many blogs, websites, and even a Facebook group devoted to this particular undertaking. Many of these home bakers have set themselves timelines that I would find difficult to follow; namely, a recipe a week. Some have also vowed to work their way through the book in page-number sequence: an approach I have decided not to follow. The rationale for going out of sequence is fairly simple: I don't think that way, and I see some recipes as having a seasonal component (e.g., "Greek Celebration Breads"), so I plan to save them for appropriate seasons. And finally, I have elected to not write a blog about this project, as they, too require a style of commitment to which I can't relate. And I don't need the external affirmation of all those sappy, vacuous comments that seem to populate most blog posts.

So this page is simply a random collection of images, posted with neither a particular schedule nor with any significance to the images. I have taken editorial liberties by not sharing my most glaring failures, so only one side of my endeavors is being shown here.

My equipment is simple but necessary: a Kitchen Aid 5-qt stand mixer, several dough-rising buckets and banettones, several couches, and miscellaneous other tools essential to the craft. All of my breads are hand-formed, and baked in a gas oven with unglazed tiles.

Update, 2011 March 16

I hate to be called a "quitter", but in all frankness I've exhausted the breads in "The Bread Bakers" apprentice that I really want to make.

I managed to bake 27 of the 42. All were successful (i.e., eaten), although not all are pictured here. Of the remaining 15, nothing really screams, "bake me", so rather than forge through them with less than an enthusiastic approach, I decided to let them rest for now. Maybe forever.

There's a lot of allure in the many other high-quality bread books and websites that are out there. I want to try a lot of them, so with them beckoning to me (in a library of over 400 cookbooks, 20 of which are excellent bread books), I have decided to stage a tactical retreat and try my hand at the breads of others.

My adventures with these other breads are being chronicled on a new, separate web page, "Adventures in Bread-Baking - 2011".

Bon appetit!

Images of my Breads from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice"
February 2010 to February 2011

All images below:

	Anadama bread 15 Feb 2010
Top	First Bagels 19 Jan 2010
	Ciabatta Upper: 24 Jan 2010 Lower: 28 Nov 2010
	Ciabatta Upper: 24 Jan 2010 Lower: 28 Nov 2010
	Pain de Campagne Couronne Bordelaise, foreground Epis, middle ground Supervisor, background 20 Feb, 2010
	Pane Siciliano started 11 March; baked 13 March 2010
Top	Pane Siciliano Seems to agree with the book: note the blisters in this close-up (supposed to be there).
	Boules Not from the BBA recipe book, but another project I'm trying: used the master recipe from "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" - entire recipe made these 3 boules approx 500 g each.
	Lambropsomo (Greek Easter Celebration Bread) 2010 April 03 Used Fiori di Sicilia instead of the called-for extracts: kitchen smelled heavenly for the whole day!
Top	More bagels: got a little carried away with the egg wash on a few of them, 2010 April 11
	Pain a l'ancienne 2010 April 11
	Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire 2010 April 24/25 Above: rounded batard Below: various boules
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	Lavash 2010-07-28/29 Upper: Under construction with rows of various seedy & tasty things Lower: 2 baked flats (used 1.5 times given recipe; retarded in fridge overnight)

Top	Rosemary Potato Bread 2010-08-07
	Basic Sourdough 2010-08-15 Upper: First two loaves Lower: Close up showing crumb

	Challah 2010-09-05 4-strand braid, tucked into a coil for Rosh Hashanah
Top	NY Deli Rye 2010-10-31
	Sunflower Seed Rye 2010-10-31
	Pumpernickel 2010-11-07
	Poolish Baguettes 2010-11-14 Upper: In couches before final rise Lower: Right out of the oven

	Vienna Bread 2010-11-14 Upper: Right out of the oven Lower: Crumb close-up

	Challah (4-strand braid) 2010-12-12
	Christopsomos 2010-12-12
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	Panettone 2010-12-24 BBA recipe produced 3 breads @ 600g each (in 14-cm paper molds) Lower image: cooling upside down as suggested on several blogs

	Italian Bread 2010-12-26
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