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I am ready to start baking my own breads, rather than spending $2.50/slice. Looking for the best recipe for zucchini bread--one that is MOIST and sweet, please! Thanks!

I picked up a small tin of Engedua Yeast Levure recently. Is this any different than Feishman's yeast in packets? For that matter, are there any real diference between these two and other packaged yeasts? If so why would you choose one over the other for a particular application?

I baked brioche yesterday, using the recipe from Peter Reinhart's Crust & Crumb--which tells you to mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes. (I did watch the streaming video of Julia Child and Silverton making brioche, and recalled one of them saying that you definitely should use a mixer. Unfortunately I don't own a mixer, but really wanted to make brioche.) I actually beat for 20 because the dough was *incredibly* stiff and was nowhere near smooth after 10 minutes of intense struggle. Then put the dough in the fridge overnight, as instructed. When I pulled the dough out, it was the consistency of chilled cookie dough. Question one: does that sound right? I thought it was pretty soft, and found the dough began melting within seconds of being in my hands. In some ways, the brioche came out surprisingly good: wonderful oven spring, unbelievably light and delicate. Not so good was the way the baked brioche left the hands feeling greasy. Also, I will be quick to admit I'm not a brioche expert, but I was a bit surprised at how sponge-cakelike the brioche was. Is this correct? I was expecting a more satiny, elastic feel. Were these problems probably due to the dough being mixed by hand?

I am going over to my friends house this afternoon and I promised her I would teach her how to make gingerbread cookies. Two years ago I made the thick and chewy ones from Cook's Illustrated (these were really good) and I assumed I pulled it out of their Best recipe book, but checking just a little while ago shows that it was probably pulled off their website. I am no longer a member.... A search for gingerbread cookie threads here give me mostly houses or a Martha Stewart recipe that everyone was saying is a little on the hard side but good as decorations. We are just going to be eating these, not using them as decorations. Anyone have a good recipe for soft and delicious gingerbread cookies? EDIT: just to clarify I am talking about gingerbread men cookies, not cake like ones. We are going to roll them out, cut out the shapes, bake, frost and eat....

Heya, I have a couple recipes I am intersted in trying, but they call for very small amounts of molasses as a flavoring agent, and i can't allow any sugar to remain in the finished version. Since apparently all of the flavor in Blackstrap Molasses comes from the impurities, I was wondering that if perhaps I proofed the molasses with the yeast for a bit, instead of adding a little white sugar as yeast food, if the yeast would be able to eat the molasses to do their yeasty beasty thing. Also, would I be correct in assuming that although the sugar component of the molasses would be gone, that the flavor would remain? Thanks.

I used to pride myself in my bread baking until I moved to Israel. I cannot get the dough to keep its shape during the rising process. It spreads out on the baking sheet. I have tried the following: 1. Tried different brands of flour 2. More kneading, less kneading 3. Dry yeast, yeast cake 4. Added less yeast, added more yeast than called for 5. Proofed in a warm oven, put on a warm balcony where the sun shines in HELP!!!!!

Whilst watching the bread guy at Mohsen in Warwick Road work his magic at dinner last night, cutting, rolling, shaping and baking the fantastic "nan" that is served in the restaurant, I wondered if it might just possibly be the best bread in London. Its so delicious that I would be quite happy if they served nothing else (as it is, their mixed grill of lamb fillet, minced lamb and chicken is fantastic). So where else is the bread so good that its worth a special trip; be it restaurant, bakery or, heaven forbid, supermarket .

I have been on the search for the perfect pumpkin bread. After burning through the recipes I had in my file from friends and the ones found on back of assorted cans of pumpkin, I haven't found a recipe that I wanted to keep. I don't want pumpkin cake either. I just want a nice, dense pumpkin bread that isn't rubbery and has a nice crumb. Perfect for breakfast on the run. Any help in my search would be greatly appreciated! S

My kids are finally old enough to enjoy helping me build and decorate a gingerbread house and I need help with a recepie that will yield the thick,dense "bread" that will stand up. I also need a refresher on royal icing. I was one of those students at the CIA, many moons ago, that did very very well until it cames to the pastry classes. I had determined by then that my affinity was for the hot line and not the deft hand of a pastry chef. It's a beautiful thing that we can all be together in a kitchen, each working our strong point.

Admin: Many threads merged in as they come up. I'm doing some factfinding before purchasing a proper bread knife, and I'd like to get some firsthand opinions from you all. I've done some searches, but haven't found a thread specifically about serrated bread knives. I'm expecting this to be a single purpose knife, mostly for heavy, crusty breads and crisp baguettes. Currently, I'm using a 8" serrated knife, which has been okay, but I want a knife that's longer and has curve to it. So far, the leading candidates are these two: the Wusthof 10 inch Crust Buster Serrated Knife, which is from their stamped series. I haven't handled this one, but I generally like Wusthof, and it has the shape that I think I want. This is about $50. The other is the pick from a Cook's Illustrated comparison, the Forschner 10.25 inch Fibrox Bread Knife. I've handled this knife, and while I'm sure it would be serviceable (especially at the price), it didn't impress me enough to make me want to buy it without looking around further. This is about $28. I'm hoping not to have to shell out $80 for a forged one, like this Wusthof Classic 10 inch Super Slicer, but I suppose I will if it comes down to it. What do you say? Have another favorite? Thanks for your input!

I'm on a hunt for good bread. Especially good German bread. Solid crust on the outside, hearty on the inside. I have family coming in from Germany and really need to find some of this bread somewhere if I plan to survive the holidays Can anyone help? I thank you in advance!

Hopefully this wasn't covered recently. I love to cook, but I can't bake. I love bread, I want to learn how to make it. I don't like what I have tasted out of baking machines and truth be told would like to learn to do it myself. Can I learn this art without enrolling in a cooking school? Any books I should start with when it comes to making bread? Important caveat: I must at the same time try to tame the cook in me from improvising. My struggle with baking has always been complusion to deviate from the recipe written. Its not that I'm a know it all - hardly, its just the cook in me.

I have a fantastic cornbread stuffing recipe of my grandmom's I make every single year, but this year wanna mix things up a bit and add oysters or sausage...I have done a big internet search and it has been difficult to find something that requests very few, if any, spices (boo hiss) or requests those awful herbed croutons which I REFUSE TO EAT! I will be both stuffing a bird and making some in a pan---can I just add a pint of shucked oysters to a regular cornbread stuffing recipe? Better yet, any recipes y'all wanna share? Links?

Cara Faith, your mention of pane Ferrarese in your reply to Igles and Pia brought back a discussion we had on the Italy forum some time ago about Italian bread and its poosr quality. As a Southerner I always have the feeling this is more a Northern Italian problem: during my last visit to Italy, last summer, I had delicious bread almost anywhere in Salento and Naples. Still if I look at what most people around me were buying I had the feeling that their choices often went for slighlty underbaked bread (una pagnotta bella chiara!) and bread types that go stale pretty quickly. Not to mention the sad breads on sale at supermarkets. Living in Italy, do you have the feeling Italians are loosing touch with their baking tradition? Grazie mille per essere stata qui con noi e spero magari di rileggerti su eGullet, Alberto

So.... Got this crazy idea i'd like to create a gingerbread replica of the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville for a holiday seasonal display. The restaurant i work for is housed in this building. You can see a picture here. *Sigh* Now, i haven't made up my mind to do it. However, i have done some fairly decent gingerbread houses in the past - just none of them were patterned after an actual building. This building is mostly glass - is there a nice "sugar glass" technique i've never been introduced to? How would one execute that curved piece of architecture? There's a couple distinctive sculptures out front that i could probably represent with cookies. Let's put our brains together, pastry people!

I've been commuting to the Okanagan off and on these past few months. Sometimes I even drive. And it just so happens that the Timmy Ho's in Sardis is an exact bladder's throw from beautiful downtown ForMiCa. Now there's a lot you can say about Tim Horton's, some of it quite unpleasant I suppose, but there's also one irrefutable fact: They're open. Yep, open very early. So there I am, in a sea of wet wool and tractor caps worn by guys who actually drive tractors, waiting in line for the men's room and then waiting in another line for a long drink of their house-branded, substantially caffeine-based beverage. But that's not the topic for today. Neither is that they're apparently shipping their lamentable donuts from Mississaugua or Oakville or somewhere, frozen, or some such thing. I really have no opinion on that matter. But a picture on the menu board really got to me, in the same way that pictures of baby seals do. It was describing . . . "Beef Stew in a Bread Bowl When you're hungry, this is your homestyle lunch: Wholesome and filling with hearty chunks of seasoned steak and ground beef, garden vegetables and rich gravy in an oven-fresh bread bowl." Was it just the early hour? Or was I missing something bigger? Homestyle? Why, I had to ask myself, would you kill an entire loaf of bread just to serve some stew--garden vegetables or not? Would the the stew look inadequate in a regular Chinet stew bowl? Traditional styrofoam just too declassé? And what do you do with the empty vessel? Tough to recycle, but probably tougher still to reuse given stringent new food safety requirements. Well, I think we all know the answer, don't we? Across this vast country we call home, thousands of innocent, blameless loaves are being binned every day. Surely there's some interventionist Bread Rights organization that could look into this. Or should we take direct action ourselves and start a petition and arrange disruptive noon hour pickets? I for one am ready to man the ramparts. But, I ask, do you stand with me? Jamie

Today we made Swiss Steak which we usually serve with a heavy, thick and dense bread dumpling. To this point we have always purchased frozen (yes, horror - I know) and I don't even remember the brand. I just need some tips on how to make these. Any thoughts or help is appreciated. Thanks.

Self Ordering/Self pick-up/Self dispose Just another fast food place I guess, causual but a bit more homey than most churn out the food, joints. Lunch for two, which included soup and sandwich was just over $20.00, no tipping since no one does anything for you. woodburner

Harold, I bake my own bread several times a week and I discovered this by accident. I make my dough, allow it to double then shape it into loaves. The loaves then get covered in food film and I proof them overnight in the walk in cooler. After baking I get a nice, dimpled, lovely crust. I used to proof my breads in a proof box and was never satisfied with the results. I use a standard restaurant oven, not a bread oven. What exactly is going on that produces this crust. Yeast is fermenting, producing carbon dioxide and the bubbles are getting trapped in the outer layer but is there something else going on? BTW: I have a first edition of "on Food.." that I bought when I was in culinary school and I NEVER get tired of reading it. One day I will get pages 345 through 349 unstuck!

I greatly enjoy baking sourdough bread. There in a small mill close to where I spend my summer holidays. They make stone ground flour. I would like to make my bread from their flour but it is always heavy- event if they sell it as white flour. To have a nice bread, I have to use a large proportion of store bought white flour. Why is that? Can I do anything to make the bread lighter. I tried malt powder- it made only a small difference. Francois

The Famer's Markets have closed, my stash in the freezer has almost run out, and I'm at least a month away from a trip over to Wild Fire. I have been unable to find a new supplier of good bread. The kind of bread baked with a nice crust that can be enjoyed without anything on ... the bread. Help, oh please help! I may have to resort to Wonder Bread! A.

Today, I was chatting with my mom, and she admitted to once having adored chow mein sandwiches. On hamburger buns, apparently. This from a woman who used to be amused by a fellow we knew who ate lasagna sandwiches on rye toast. I once had a boyfriend who liked peanut butter and dill pickles, but I will admit that peanut butter at least is a sandwichy item. So are pickles for that matter. Together? Oy! What's your secret sandwich?

Has anyone a recipe how to make a rye sourdough starter and recipes for artisnal rye breads? TIA Yoshka

My folks sent me some seriously wonderful gingerbread they discovered in the Lake District of England (Grasmere to be precise). Apparently, it inspired Wordsworth to wax poetic. Does anyone know anything about Sarah Nelson's Celebrated Grasmere Gingerbread? Does anyone have a recipe for it? Thanks. Neal

In this wonderful Q&A you mentioned your love for Struan bread at least twice. Since I’ve never had it I wanted to give it a try. I looked for it in the BBA, which is the book I own. Instead the index at the end of it lead me to a recipe you call “Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire”. I understood from the intro to the recipe that it is an “improvement” on the Struan recipe you have in Brother Juniper’s. Is it? Which recipe do you recommend that I try first, the one in BBA or the one from Brother Juniper’s? Basically which recipe do you like better? Since I do not have Brother Juniper’s book I did a web search and came up with this recipe. I assume this is your Struan bread. Elie