Beth Hensperger - The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook: A Master Baker's 300 Favorite Recipes for Perfect-Every-Time Bread from Every Kind of Machine
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My Bread Bible
Pros
Comprehensive recipes that works! Great price.
Cons
Size. Can't tote this book around easily.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This is THE book to get if you have a bread maker.
Thanks to The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook and my much-loved bread machine (the Breadman Ultimate), I have stopped buying store-made bread forever.
BAKING BREAD ON YOUR OWN
Is It Hard?
On the contrary, it is the easiest thing ever. Beth Hensperger's The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook makes it super easy for you. I have found the instruction manual and the recipes included with my breadmaker to be virtually useless in terms of understanding what really makes a good loaf of bread. Beth Hensperger holds your hand throughout this process, and give you easy to follow, step by step instructions.
Beth Hensperger spends the first section of the book giving you an orientation to bread making and an explanation of what happens in each cycle of your bread maker. She also clearly explains the common problems and how to spot and fix them. For example, you actually cannot dump in all your ingredients into the machine and walk away. You have to monitor the first stage of kneading to add more flour or water to compensate for the weather conditions. If it's dry that day, you do have to throw in a little bit more water to perfect the dough. It really makes a difference, and I wouldn't have learned that had it not been for this book.
The author also spends time on the different types of flour you can use and how each would create a different texture/flavor to your bread. In addition, she seems to have tried her recipes out on many of the different brands of bread machines out there, and even notes that for one particular type of machine, you need to add more water. The level of care, detail and thought that obviously went into this book is astounding.
Does It Save You Money?
If you usually buy the cheapest available store loaf (about $1), you probably won't save much money by baking bread on your own, especially if you follow Beth Hensperger's full instructions in this cookbook. The reason is that even for a regular loaf of white bread, she calls for the use of bread flour (which has a higher protein content than regular all-purpose flour, and costs twice as much) as well as gluten flour (I have only found this in specialty stores). Yeast takes up a significant chunk of the costs as well. At $6-7 a jar, it can last you roughly 20 loaves. The recipes also often calls for more specialty ingredients, such as toasted wheat germ, potato flakes, and buttermilk powder, that you may not readily have in your cupboard. So making some of the recipes in this book takes pre-planning and a trip to a grocery or health food store.
Does It Save You Time?
Not necessarily, depending on the type of bread you make. Some of the recipes in this book call for overnight fermentation ("sponge" breads) and some of them can't be baked directly in the breadmaker but requires shaping by hand and baking in a regular over (such as bagels, cinnamon rolls, and pizza dough). Already mentioned is the call for unusual ingredients at times.
THE RECIPES
Beth Hensperger has assembled an impressive array of bread recipes here, and after 9 months of owning this book, I'm chagrined to report that I have not managed to move much beyond the first section of the book, the white breads. That's because her recipes work so well that I just keep going back to the same ones! My favorites so far are the Milk Bread and the Honey White Bread. I also like the fact that the recipes are not limited to fresh bread but also what to do with left-over bread. (I have typed in the table of contents of each of the book's sections in the "Organization of the Book" section below.)
Each recipes is laid out in an easy to read fashion. There is usually one recipe per page. The title of the bread recipe is followed by a one paragraph description of the bread's characteristics, history, fun facts and or tips on how to make it. The clearly numbered instructions follow. The ingredients are listed in shaded boxes at the bottom or on the sides of the page, and different proportions are given for 1.5 pound and 2 pound loaves.
Organization of the Book
There are too many recipes (300 of them!) in here for me to list them all, but here are the divisions of the book, and some examples of the recipes in there:
(1)White Breads
French Sandwich Pain au Lait; Sour Cream Bread; Yogurt Bread; Greek Bread; Maple Buttermilk Bread; Coconut Milk White Bread; Banana Sandwich Loaf; Beer Bread; Old-Fashioned Potato Bread; French Bread; Beer Bread; Milk Brad; Country White Bread; Honey White Bread.
(2)Egg Breads
Franskbrod; Butter Bread; Brioche Bread; Zopf (Swiss Egg Bread); Jewish Egg Bread; Poppy Seed Egg Bread; Virginia Light Rolls; Egg Bagels; English Muffins; Hamburger buns and hot dog rolls.
(3)One-Pound Loaves
Brioche Egg Loaf; Country White Loaf; Buttermilk White Loaf; Honey Whole Wheat Loaf; Oatmeal Loaf; Hawaiian Sweet Loaf.
(4)Pasta Dough
Egg pasta; Whole wheat egg pasta; Green spinach pasta; Semolina pasta.
(5)Whole Wheat Breads
Light whole wheat bread; Honey whole wheat bread; Buttermilk whole wheat bread; Soft whole wheat dinner rolls; Whole wheat challah; Sesame-wheat bread ...
(6)Rye Breads
Scandinavian Light Rye; Swedish Rye Bread; Limpa; Bohemian Black Bread ...
(7)Specialty Flour Breads
Cornmeal Honey Bread; Cornmeal and Hominy Bread; Polenta-Sunflower-Millet Bread; Orange-Buckwheat Bread; Barley Bread; Quinoa Bread; Chickpea Flour Bread ...
(8)Multigrain Breads
Three-Grain Bread; Whole-Grain Daily Bread; Honey Wheat Berry Bread; Sprouted Wheat Berry Bread; Graham Indian bread ...
(9)Gluten Free Breads
Cinnamon Raisin Bread; Mock Light Rye; Ricotta Potato Bread; Buttermilk White Bread ...
(10)Country Breads
Peasant Bread; Semolina Country Bread; Classic Baguettes; Panino Bruschetta; Ciabatta; Olive Oil Bread ...
(11)Sour Dough Breads
White Sourdough Bread; Sourdough Cornmeal Bread; Sourdough French Bread; Sourdough Banana Nut Bread; Sourdough Tomato Bread with Feta; Sourdough Pesto Bread; Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Bread...
(12)Herb, Nut, Seed, and Spice Breads
Herb Bread; Fresh Dill Bread; Rosemary-Lemon Bread; Olive-Oil-Pine Nut Bread; Tomato Flatbread with Marjoram ...
(13)Savory Vegetable and Fruit Breads
Black Olive Bread; Pain d'Ail; Tomato Bread; Zucchini Bread; Prune Bread; Applesauce Bread; Balsamic-Caramelized Onion Bread.
(14)Cheese Breads
Ricotta and Fresh Chive Bread; Cottage Cheese Dill bread; Parmesan Nut Bread; Feta and Spinach Bread ...
(15)Pizza and other Flatbreads
Basic Pizza Dough; Whole Wheat Pizza Dough; Roman Bread; Wine Focaccia; Naan; Whole Wheat Pita; Middle Eastern Lavash; Provencal Olive and Anchovy Flatbread ...
(16)Chocolate, Fruit and Other Sweet Breads
Cinnamon Swirl Bread; Dutch Sugar Loaf; Maple Oatmeal Bread; Old-Fashioned Raisin Bread; Greek Currant Bread; Banana Oatmeal Bread with Macadamia Nuts; Persimmon Bread; Spicy Pear Bread; Blueberry Crumb Cake; Chocolate Challah; Mexican Chocolate Bread; Portuguese Sweet Bread ...
(17)No Yeast Quick Breads
Banana Bread; Fig Bread; Toasted Coconut Bread; Carrot Bread; Cornbread; Bourbon Nut Bread...
(18)Jams, Preserves, and Chutneys in Your Bread Machine
Strawberry Jam; Blueberry Jam; Raspberry Jam; Boysenberry Jam; Peach Jam; Apricot Jam; Kiwifruit Jam; Apple Butter; Mango Chutney ...
So in end, is it worth it?
While having this book and a breadmaker won't necessary save you time or money, I will give you GREAT tasting fresh bread, when you want it (albeit a 3-hour delay, so you do have to plan ahead a little). There are so many cool things you can do with your breadmaker and this book shows you a whole new world!
BUY THIS BOOK!
In summary, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook gets my heartiest endorsement. It was the best $12 I have spent on a cookbook, and contains superior recipes and explanations to other bread machine cookbooks I have looked at. Trying out all of the recipes will take me years -- I can't wait! You might want to get the hardcover version of this book instead of the softcover, because this book -- once you get it -- will be with you for a long, long time.
ISBN Number: 1-55832-156-x (paperback); 1-55832-155-1 (hardcover).
UPDATE: I've found an amazing site for cookbooks (and other books as well, especially fiction) that's called Bookcloseouts.com. Check it out:
http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?rid=!@#
If you can't find a deal there, I'd be very surprised. They have an ongoing coupon that will give you $5 off $35 (coupon code is "gift" and password is "bookcloseouts"). I challenge you to come out of that store with nothing! Booklovers rejoice.
BAKING BREAD ON YOUR OWN
Is It Hard?
On the contrary, it is the easiest thing ever. Beth Hensperger's The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook makes it super easy for you. I have found the instruction manual and the recipes included with my breadmaker to be virtually useless in terms of understanding what really makes a good loaf of bread. Beth Hensperger holds your hand throughout this process, and give you easy to follow, step by step instructions.
Beth Hensperger spends the first section of the book giving you an orientation to bread making and an explanation of what happens in each cycle of your bread maker. She also clearly explains the common problems and how to spot and fix them. For example, you actually cannot dump in all your ingredients into the machine and walk away. You have to monitor the first stage of kneading to add more flour or water to compensate for the weather conditions. If it's dry that day, you do have to throw in a little bit more water to perfect the dough. It really makes a difference, and I wouldn't have learned that had it not been for this book.
The author also spends time on the different types of flour you can use and how each would create a different texture/flavor to your bread. In addition, she seems to have tried her recipes out on many of the different brands of bread machines out there, and even notes that for one particular type of machine, you need to add more water. The level of care, detail and thought that obviously went into this book is astounding.
Does It Save You Money?
If you usually buy the cheapest available store loaf (about $1), you probably won't save much money by baking bread on your own, especially if you follow Beth Hensperger's full instructions in this cookbook. The reason is that even for a regular loaf of white bread, she calls for the use of bread flour (which has a higher protein content than regular all-purpose flour, and costs twice as much) as well as gluten flour (I have only found this in specialty stores). Yeast takes up a significant chunk of the costs as well. At $6-7 a jar, it can last you roughly 20 loaves. The recipes also often calls for more specialty ingredients, such as toasted wheat germ, potato flakes, and buttermilk powder, that you may not readily have in your cupboard. So making some of the recipes in this book takes pre-planning and a trip to a grocery or health food store.
Does It Save You Time?
Not necessarily, depending on the type of bread you make. Some of the recipes in this book call for overnight fermentation ("sponge" breads) and some of them can't be baked directly in the breadmaker but requires shaping by hand and baking in a regular over (such as bagels, cinnamon rolls, and pizza dough). Already mentioned is the call for unusual ingredients at times.
THE RECIPES
Beth Hensperger has assembled an impressive array of bread recipes here, and after 9 months of owning this book, I'm chagrined to report that I have not managed to move much beyond the first section of the book, the white breads. That's because her recipes work so well that I just keep going back to the same ones! My favorites so far are the Milk Bread and the Honey White Bread. I also like the fact that the recipes are not limited to fresh bread but also what to do with left-over bread. (I have typed in the table of contents of each of the book's sections in the "Organization of the Book" section below.)
Each recipes is laid out in an easy to read fashion. There is usually one recipe per page. The title of the bread recipe is followed by a one paragraph description of the bread's characteristics, history, fun facts and or tips on how to make it. The clearly numbered instructions follow. The ingredients are listed in shaded boxes at the bottom or on the sides of the page, and different proportions are given for 1.5 pound and 2 pound loaves.
Organization of the Book
There are too many recipes (300 of them!) in here for me to list them all, but here are the divisions of the book, and some examples of the recipes in there:
(1)White Breads
French Sandwich Pain au Lait; Sour Cream Bread; Yogurt Bread; Greek Bread; Maple Buttermilk Bread; Coconut Milk White Bread; Banana Sandwich Loaf; Beer Bread; Old-Fashioned Potato Bread; French Bread; Beer Bread; Milk Brad; Country White Bread; Honey White Bread.
(2)Egg Breads
Franskbrod; Butter Bread; Brioche Bread; Zopf (Swiss Egg Bread); Jewish Egg Bread; Poppy Seed Egg Bread; Virginia Light Rolls; Egg Bagels; English Muffins; Hamburger buns and hot dog rolls.
(3)One-Pound Loaves
Brioche Egg Loaf; Country White Loaf; Buttermilk White Loaf; Honey Whole Wheat Loaf; Oatmeal Loaf; Hawaiian Sweet Loaf.
(4)Pasta Dough
Egg pasta; Whole wheat egg pasta; Green spinach pasta; Semolina pasta.
(5)Whole Wheat Breads
Light whole wheat bread; Honey whole wheat bread; Buttermilk whole wheat bread; Soft whole wheat dinner rolls; Whole wheat challah; Sesame-wheat bread ...
(6)Rye Breads
Scandinavian Light Rye; Swedish Rye Bread; Limpa; Bohemian Black Bread ...
(7)Specialty Flour Breads
Cornmeal Honey Bread; Cornmeal and Hominy Bread; Polenta-Sunflower-Millet Bread; Orange-Buckwheat Bread; Barley Bread; Quinoa Bread; Chickpea Flour Bread ...
(8)Multigrain Breads
Three-Grain Bread; Whole-Grain Daily Bread; Honey Wheat Berry Bread; Sprouted Wheat Berry Bread; Graham Indian bread ...
(9)Gluten Free Breads
Cinnamon Raisin Bread; Mock Light Rye; Ricotta Potato Bread; Buttermilk White Bread ...
(10)Country Breads
Peasant Bread; Semolina Country Bread; Classic Baguettes; Panino Bruschetta; Ciabatta; Olive Oil Bread ...
(11)Sour Dough Breads
White Sourdough Bread; Sourdough Cornmeal Bread; Sourdough French Bread; Sourdough Banana Nut Bread; Sourdough Tomato Bread with Feta; Sourdough Pesto Bread; Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Bread...
(12)Herb, Nut, Seed, and Spice Breads
Herb Bread; Fresh Dill Bread; Rosemary-Lemon Bread; Olive-Oil-Pine Nut Bread; Tomato Flatbread with Marjoram ...
(13)Savory Vegetable and Fruit Breads
Black Olive Bread; Pain d'Ail; Tomato Bread; Zucchini Bread; Prune Bread; Applesauce Bread; Balsamic-Caramelized Onion Bread.
(14)Cheese Breads
Ricotta and Fresh Chive Bread; Cottage Cheese Dill bread; Parmesan Nut Bread; Feta and Spinach Bread ...
(15)Pizza and other Flatbreads
Basic Pizza Dough; Whole Wheat Pizza Dough; Roman Bread; Wine Focaccia; Naan; Whole Wheat Pita; Middle Eastern Lavash; Provencal Olive and Anchovy Flatbread ...
(16)Chocolate, Fruit and Other Sweet Breads
Cinnamon Swirl Bread; Dutch Sugar Loaf; Maple Oatmeal Bread; Old-Fashioned Raisin Bread; Greek Currant Bread; Banana Oatmeal Bread with Macadamia Nuts; Persimmon Bread; Spicy Pear Bread; Blueberry Crumb Cake; Chocolate Challah; Mexican Chocolate Bread; Portuguese Sweet Bread ...
(17)No Yeast Quick Breads
Banana Bread; Fig Bread; Toasted Coconut Bread; Carrot Bread; Cornbread; Bourbon Nut Bread...
(18)Jams, Preserves, and Chutneys in Your Bread Machine
Strawberry Jam; Blueberry Jam; Raspberry Jam; Boysenberry Jam; Peach Jam; Apricot Jam; Kiwifruit Jam; Apple Butter; Mango Chutney ...
So in end, is it worth it?
While having this book and a breadmaker won't necessary save you time or money, I will give you GREAT tasting fresh bread, when you want it (albeit a 3-hour delay, so you do have to plan ahead a little). There are so many cool things you can do with your breadmaker and this book shows you a whole new world!
BUY THIS BOOK!
In summary, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook gets my heartiest endorsement. It was the best $12 I have spent on a cookbook, and contains superior recipes and explanations to other bread machine cookbooks I have looked at. Trying out all of the recipes will take me years -- I can't wait! You might want to get the hardcover version of this book instead of the softcover, because this book -- once you get it -- will be with you for a long, long time.
ISBN Number: 1-55832-156-x (paperback); 1-55832-155-1 (hardcover).
UPDATE: I've found an amazing site for cookbooks (and other books as well, especially fiction) that's called Bookcloseouts.com. Check it out:
http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?rid=!@#
If you can't find a deal there, I'd be very surprised. They have an ongoing coupon that will give you $5 off $35 (coupon code is "gift" and password is "bookcloseouts"). I challenge you to come out of that store with nothing! Booklovers rejoice.
