Synopsis
Crunchy-crusted baguettes, robust rustic boules, sage and apricot-studded golden semolina loaves, chewy olive and thyme sticks, exotic and meltingly delicious chocolate buns... Does this sound like a bakery built in heaven? Closer. It's heaven on earth. It's perfect bread from Amy's Bread, New York's favorite bakery. At Amy's, bread-struck New Yorkers line up daily at Amy Scherber, Toy Dupree, and Amy's staff turn out dozens of miraculous breads each morning. Wars are fought over which bread is her best. Is it her black olive fougasse, generously filled with two types of robustly flavored olives? It is her semolina, studded with black sesame seeds? Or is it Amy's rosemary bread, rich and aromatic with olive oil and fresh green rosemary? Any way you slice it, with AMY'S BREAD, you'll learn to bake a universe of these heavenly breads right here on earth in your own kitchen. The results are sophisticated enough for a professional but the steps are simple enough for the most timid baker. Amy's hearth-baked, artisan breads are a joy to bake at home. Her techniques result in superior breads with less kneading time. The slow cool rises maximize flavor development, and make it easy to fit bread baking into a busy work schedule. Cozy up your kitchen with the smell of warm, toasty bread baking in your oven.
Reviews
At the New York City bakery after which this book is named, Scherber and Dupree practice artisan bread baking, producing small batches of hand-shaped, hearth-baked loaves that are distinguished by the thick crusts, chewy crumbs and distinctive flavors imparted by long fermentation times. Here they adapt techniques and recipes for producing such breads at home. Photos (by gentl & hyers) and clear instructions mark the introduction to such techniques as smoothly shaping a baguette or distinctively scoring a crust. Detailed recipes for five basic loaves (Golden Whole Wheat Bread; Amy's Crusty Italian Loaf) encourage novices. Subsequent chapters feature more adventurous breads: golden Semolina Beehive with Black Sesame Seeds; Coarse Cracked corn with Four Peppers; Chewy Olive and Thyme Sticks; Autumn Pumpkin Bread with Pecans. There's even a "huggable edible," Toy's Teddy Bread, a sourdough loaf shaped like a Teddy bear. A glossary, troubleshooting guide and mail-order source list wrap up this comprehensive treatment that caters to both neophyte and veteran bread bakers.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Four years ago, Scherber joined forces with Dupree to open Amy's Bread, which almost immediately became one of New York City's most popular bakeries, supplying exceptional artisan breads to many top restaurants as well as to retail customers. Now they present 37 of their favorite recipes, offering something for bakers at all levels. There's a chapter on easy loaves for beginners, followed by a variety of original breads, such as Coarse-Grained Whole Wheat with Toasted Walnuts, and finally a chapter on more advanced techniques. The authors, who are excellent teachers, give clear, concise direction at each stage of bread making, with the help of step-by-step photographs. Although Joe Ortiz's The Village Baker (LJ 12/92) and Daniel Leader's Bread Alone (LJ 10/15/93) are both excellent works by artisan bakers, Amy's Bread is more accessible and approachable than either of those titles. Highly recommended.?Susan Lantzius, formerly Pastry Chef, San Domenico Restaurant, New York
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Though the inspiration for most contemporary food trends can arise on either coast, the yen for bread baking appears to be centered in the Northeast. So it should come as no surprise that a New York City bakery owner who studied "loaf art" in France now debuts in print. Like its culinary cousin, pastrymaking, creating bread is a highly personalized activity, with legions of bakers agreeing to disagree about the use of certain starters, the right amount of kneading, the appropriate temperatures, and so on. One can always temper Scherber and Dupree's idiosyncrasies with advice from others, but the results of their more than 40 recipes are well above average. Barbara Jacobs
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