"The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Reinhart

[Shaya]

Here is my first focaccia. The texture was amazing; not light and airy but really great texture and bite. I topped it with an oil infused with oregano and thyme, but in my haste I forgot to add some fleur de sel. I will definitely remember next time.

[glennbech]

Looks great. Looks like the right "height" for my preference. One of my favorites from the book (so far!) :-)

[Shaya]

Made some baguette last night. I left the pate fermentee in the fridge for 2 days. It developed a great flavor and a wonderful crust. My husband asked if it was sourdough - a great result for such little effort.

My only complaint is I could detect my "envelope" folds on the interior. Anyone know how I can avoid that next time?

Slashes

Baguette

Crumb

[FoodMan]

That is one perfect looking baguette! Great work.

[Shaya]

Thanks Foodman.

I made some kaiser rolls to go with our burgers tonight. The process was not at all difficult. I made the boules, then rolled them out after a little rest and tied double-knots as he shows in the book. They got a great rise on them (about 90 minutes proofing time) before going into the over, and the dough even has that stringy quality that I associate with kaisers.

The one disappointment is that they are not shiny. I just reread this thread and noticed that you had this same issue, Foodman. I would say the rolls in the book have some eggwash, wouldn't you?

Kaiser Rolls

Edited May 8, 2007 by Shaya (log)

[Marlene]

My steam breadmaker arrived the other day. I'm hoping to get a chance to play with it this week, or early next.

[kbjesq]

Bagels, with sesame and sea salt. I am not a good baker and I have never made bagels before, yet the recipe and directions were easy to follow, and the bagels were delicious. Thank you, Mr. Reinhart.

[Sararwelch]

I recently made bagels, and although the flavor and texture were great, about 75% of the seeds fell off after baking! I did put the seeds on as the bagels came out of the water as he instructed. I'm tempted to try an egg wash next time, any other ideas?

[Sararwelch]

Another question - I was planning to make the Vienna bread this weekend with the dutch crunch topping. There are instructions on how to make the dutch crunch topping, but it doesn't say anything about whether or not the topping needs to ferment before it's applied. It says something about the topping growing as the dough grows, but that's it. Has anyone made this before?

[roxyblue]

Hello! This is my first post post on this board, but I have been lurking for around 2 years! I know this is an old thread, but after reading through a few weeks back, I HAD to order this book! So far I have made the cinnamon rolls. I'm thinking that bagels are next!

[Pille]

Made the sticky buns this morning

A lot of work, and very time consuming

Coming out of the oven

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Today’s breakfast was PR’s Cinnamon Rolls. I highly recommend those they are soft, flavorful and very addictive.

Elie

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Made the cina buns this morning and have a brioche half way done.. Hopefully it will be worth photographing..

Normally the icing is the best part of things like this.. But in this case the bread itself was the star..

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My first time of posting on this thread, too - mainly as I haven't got the book However, I did bake Cinnamon Rolls & Sticky Buns from the book last weekend. Here are the sticky buns:

and here the cinnamon rolls:

Whereas I did like the sticky buns, I wasn't impressed with the cinnamon rolls, and won't replace my regular cinnamon roll recipe (Swedish style) with Peter Reinhart's just yet. I guess I need cardamom in my cinnamon buns and not fondant glaze on them To sum it up, I wasn't planning to buy the book based on these two recipes (yes, I did like sticky buns a lot, but they're way too rich for regular consumption ), then I'm reconsidering the decision after seeing all those gorgeous other breads here!

Some amazing stuff, people!!

I82Much - I didn't think it was much work at all making sticky buns. It's just the regular cinnamon roll recipe, plus 5 minutes mixing sugar, syrup and butter.

[Laura B]

I thought I would bump this thread up to say Happy Thanksgiving and to show off my Rich Man's Brioche. I think the brioche is still the only thing I have made from this book, which is a crime. My results from making both Rich Man's and Middle Class Brioche have always been outstanding. I just love making this bread.

[weinoo]

Hello! This is my first post post on this board, but I have been lurking for around 2 years! I know this is an old thread, but after reading through a few weeks back, I HAD to order this book! So far I have made the cinnamon rolls. I'm thinking that bagels are next!

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Hi roxyblue,

Welcome to the eGullet forums as a poster, and to Pastry & Baking as well.

I've been using this book, mostly to work on sourdough/bread making technique.

How did your bagels come out, and what else have you attempted from the book?

[Marlene]

Dinner rolls, Variation 2, from BBA

These were the best batch yet. I think I'm finally getting the "rolling the dough into a tight ball" technique down.

[doughgirl]

I also made the Dinner rolls, Variation 2 although I think Marlene's look much nicer. I think mine were much too close together. But they were delicious!

[Marlene]

I think yours look great! I opted out of the egg wash this time to see what they were like without it.

[Marlene]

I finally got an opportunity to try the steam maker bread baker today, ably assisted by two other eGulleters. We were perhaps a little aggressive with our slashes, but the crust was amazing. I love this thing. We made the french bread from BBA, and one eG'er brought a foie pate that she made from Happy in the Kitchen and the other one brought an olive tapenade. A great lunch and a wonderful time with these two ladies!

[Marlene]

Tried a couple more loaves of French Bread today using the steam maker. I was a lot more cautious with the slits this time, and I think I went too far the other way, and maybe not deep enough or long enough. I think I'll need to invest in a razor. I shaped and left them in the torpedo shape, rather than the longer baquette shape. I also bked them on the stone, but left them in the perforated shaped pan. One one loaf the slids did open somewhat, but on the other they didn't really.

I'll post a pic of the crumb after we've sliced into them.

[sanrensho]

One one loaf the slids did open somewhat, but on the other they didn't really.

Did you steam the oven? I would guess that the steam isn't reaching part of the oven, hence the uneven oven spring.

Looks good!

[Marlene]

Yes, I steamed the oven. I'm using a steammaker, and I think perhaps I didn't leave the lid on long enough this time or give it quite enough steam. Still, it's fun practicing, although I won't be doing any more bread baking for about 3 weeks now, but after that, try try again!

[Marlene]

The crumb. I don't actually know if this is what it is supposed to look like, but we really liked the bread!

[Brigid Mary]

I got what I asked for, for Christmas--this book! Yesterday I made the Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Swirl Bread. I have to say, that was the best bread I have ever tasted. It was so packed with raisins and nuts! I'm definitely going to make this again. Both loaves were gone before the end of the night and my family still wanted more. I feel bad for my sister who only got 2 slices....I think I had 5!

Me, dividing the dough:

Look how packed it is!

Out of the oven:

Inside:

It was made with the optional cinnamon sugar swirl and the sugar crunch topping. My sister thought it needed a glaze, so out came the powdered sugar and milk! I had to use all purpose flour because I didn't have bread flour.

[Becca Porter]

I finally bought this book for myself at Christmas. I have been using it nearly everyday. I have loved everything I have made except the French bread.

It was the strangest thing, it went into the oven looking great. It did not have any visible flour on the surface at all. It turned stark white in the oven. Eventually the bottom started to burn, the internal temp. was right, but the upper surface was still super white. It was almost like some kind of weird reaction. Any ideas? It seems I was so ashamed I didn't take a picture... I have never had it happen before.

I have been posting a few pictures and reviews on my blog if anyone is interested.

[alanamoana]

I finally bought this book for myself at Christmas. I have been using it nearly everyday. I have loved everything I have made except the French bread.

It was the strangest thing, it went into the oven looking great. It did not have any visible flour on the surface at all. It turned stark white in the oven. Eventually the bottom started to burn, the internal temp. was right, but the upper surface was still super white. It was almost like some kind of weird reaction. Any ideas? It seems I was so ashamed I didn't take a picture... I have never had it happen before.

I have been posting a few pictures and reviews on my blog if anyone is interested.

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this usually happens when you don't steam or don't steam enough. the crust doesn't have enough moisture to color properly. sometimes it is because of lack of salt in a recipe as well.

[Marlene]

I've been making the french bread recipe once a week for the last few weeks, trying to work on my technique. Two weeks ago, I got this result.

nice bloom, but the shaping needed work.

Today I tried again,

The shaping was marginally better, but I don't think the bloom was as good. I haven't cut into these yet, but will post a pic of the crumb when I do.

I'm at a loss. I'm paying attention to the surface tension, the steam process etc and I still haven't got it right yet.