• gcottraux on February 04, 2010

  Incredibly meticulous directions. Rose Levy Beranbaum is a master at perfecting recipes to the finest detail.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Ciabatta (Ciabatta de Donna, or lady's slipper)

  • Snadra on November 03, 2011

    This makes wonderfully light ciabatta, with a slight chew and great holes. The instructions are quite easy to follow. When I need two loaves, I makes two consecutive batches, mixing them one after the other, rather than trying to double the amount of dough (this would be less of an issue in a larger mixer). I have had good results with all kinds of Australian plain flour, but Wheatfields seems to give the best results, and the bread spreads a little less. Leftovers make excellent croutons, and the oval cloud buns make excellent steak sandwich/burger rolls.

• Puttanesca bread

  • froggee501 on October 09, 2010

    Is a variation on the olive bread, variation listed on p. 387

• Potato buttermilk bread

  • mfto on February 06, 2011

    This is a very tart bread. I left out the sugar because I have tried other of her recipes that are too sweet. But my husband loved the tang of the bread with jelly. I will try adding just a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar.

  • Zosia on January 23, 2021

    Crusty, moist, chewy, this bread has a texture quite unlike the soft, fluffy sandwich loaves I’m accustomed to with potato breads. It has definite potato flavour but lacks the sweetness the tuber usually imparts to breads.

• Raisin pecan bread

  • shamby on August 04, 2013

    Absolute favorite of all the breads I've ever made.

  • anya_sf on August 15, 2021

    I made the sponge a day ahead and mixed by hand per her recommendations. I wasn't sure what kind of malt powder to use - I had diastatic, so used that, which worked. Also used oil in lieu of lecithin. I needed all the extra flour while kneading. The dough took longer to rise in my kitchen (and proofs 3 times, so plan ahead). Baked on a sheet pan for 40 min, the temp was already 195, although the bread still felt quite heavy due to the huge amount of raisins and nuts. The bread was really delicious, especially toasted.

• Pullman loaf sandwich bread (Pain de mie)

  • JuneHawk on June 14, 2020

    If you bake the bread at the temperature the recipe calls for (425F) for the time it calls for, your bread will be burned (I tried). Instead, bake at 390F until the bread reaches 190F-200F internal. For me, that was 30 minute with the pan lid on.

• Perfect pizza dough

  • Zosia on January 23, 2021

    This is one of the easiest pizza doughs I’ve ever made. Thin, crispy and chewy, it’s a good vehicle for any number of toppings and can be made without much advance planning.

• Royal Irish soda bread

  • Zosia on January 23, 2021

    This is a tender, lightly sweetened loaf with a lovely crust, almost like a giant scone. Despite the 4 pages of instructions, the dough comes together in ~5 minutes and bakes in 30. I omitted the whiskey soaked raisins and didn’t make the whiskey butter, elements that would probably earn this an extra star, but it was delicious nonetheless and disappeared quickly. Next time, I’ll have to make 2!

  • ellipsis on February 13, 2023

    Made the rolls. Dough was too sticky to roll into a rope as instructed, so I just kind of dropped it onto the cookie sheet, but the rules came out fantastic. Really delicious, and more like scones than traditional soda bread.

  • lapetitebaker on January 09, 2017

    Recipe also includes instructions for shaping and baking as 15 rolls

  • anya_sf on March 18, 2021

    I used half white, half whole wheat pastry flour, which yielded a lovely, tender, lightly sweet loaf with crunchy exterior. It needed 10 extra minutes to bake. I'd made this in the past with the whiskey butter, which I remember as tasting wonderful, but this time we just enjoyed it with plain butter.

  • hibeez on February 28, 2020

    Perhaps the best Irish soda bread I've ever had. The whiskey butter ain't bad either.

  • ashallen on March 02, 2020

    From the author's website: In the IRISH SODA BREAD, page 150 The dough should be divided into 15 equal pieces of 50 grams each (when baked each one is about 44 grams). If one is not using a scale it would be best to divide the dough in half and then each piece in 8ths which would make slightly smaller rolls of about 46 grams each instead of 50 but easier to make all the same size when doing it by eye.

• Golden semolina torpedo

  • Zosia on January 23, 2021

    This is a delicious bread with a lovely golden colour, a bouncy/chewy crumb and a crisp crust.

  • ashallen on March 17, 2020

    From the author's website: In the GOLDEN SEMOLINA TORPEDO, on page 366 step #2...In a medium bowl whisk together ALL BUT 1/4 cup durum flour and yeast. Then whisk in the salt...on page 367, step #6...Preheat the oven to 425°F, or 450°F if using La Cloche.

• Sweet potato loaf

  • Zosia on January 23, 2021

    This bread is so delicious, I actually cook sweet potatoes just to make it. It’s light and airy but has a tight though soft crumb that makes it perfect for sandwiches. It doesn’t taste like the tuber, but it is slightly sweet and it gets its pretty golden colour from the potato.

• Flaxseed loaf

  • Zosia on March 01, 2014

    Delicious same-day bread with a nutty flavour and chewy crumb. Wonderful freshly baked or toasted.

  • anya_sf on July 31, 2020

    Note that the ingredients and instructions just call for flaxseed, but the pointers for success refer to cracked flaxseed; I whirred the seeds in the Vitamix for a few seconds. I substituted regular rye flour for pumpernickel. Although the dough appeared properly proofed, the loaf rose tremendously in the oven and cracked on the side rather than at the slash mark, so it ended up lopsided. Next time I'll use an oversized loaf pan. The bread had great flavor and wasn't too "seedy". Texture was sturdy yet soft and moist.

• Sourdough wheat bread with seeds

  • Zosia on June 29, 2015

    It took 3 days and 7 pages of instructions to produce 2 beautiful loaves of sourdough with a thin crispy crust and shiny, chewy crumb. Unfortunately, the whole wheat flavour overwhelmed the flavour of all of the seeds and I was quite disappointed with it. The recipe deserves 5 stars since it guided this amateur baker with limited sourdough experience in making bread that looked and tasted like it came from an artisanal bakery, but I won't make it again. Edit: Just toasted the last slice of the first loaf - now that was delicious with the flavours of the seeds coming through.

  • ashallen on June 14, 2020

    From the author's website: In the SOURDOUGH WHEAT BREAD SEEDS on page 468, after the first paragraph add: "Cover tightly and allow it to sit at room temperature 8 to 12 hours. It will have puffed slightly. Proceed to step 2. At step 2 add the words "That night..." At step 4 on the following page add the words "The next morning"

• Traditional challah

  • Zosia on January 23, 2021

    This is a gorgeous bread, both in flavour and texture: it’s light and airy with the perfect level of sweetness for my family’s tastes.

  • ashallen on June 14, 2020

    From the author's website: In the CHALLAH on page 517, when making the sponge add the yeast listed in the ingredients. In all breads, when making a starter that you plan to have sit for more than 4 hours, refrigerate it after the first hour at room temperature.

• Basic sourdough bread

  • vhague on February 15, 2016

    It would have been much better if I had a basic understanding of bread baking instead of a craving for sourdough. I became hopelessly confused with the directions, got impatient when my dough was not quite as high as she said it should be, and baked anyway, with the result of a tiny, 8 lb brick of dough with a nearly raw interior and thick and hard exterior. Note to self, a book will not make me an expert.

  • MarciK on May 30, 2019

    I converted the recipe from using a stiff starter to a liquid starter. They have excellent instructions how to calculate the flour/sugar from a yeast recipe to using a starter. I just backed out the stiff starter & recalculated using the liquid. It worked fine, but I had to add a little more flour during kneading. My final dough was a little smaller than what the recipe said, but in the end it rose to the 4 cups. I baked it in a loaf pan instead of a round boule because I like the even slices. In the end, I had 1 lb of dough baked in a 1 lb loaf pan, but it makes a pretty small loaf of bread. Next time I will double the recipe and bake it in a 9x5" pan for a more substantial size loaf. It made a delicious, flavorful sourdough, and I'm proud of myself for keeping the starter alive as this was my very first time cooking with a sourdough starter.

• Carrot bread

  • Lepa on March 18, 2019

    Wow, this is really good. I made it for my kids' lunchbox and everyone in my family loved it. It is packed full of carrots (3.5 cups in one loaf!) and raisins. The only spice is cinnamon and I wondered if it would be plain but it is dense and moist and spicy. This is going to go into frequent rotation!

  • anya_sf on April 20, 2019

    Once you have all the carrots grated, this recipe is quick and easy to mix. White whole wheat flour worked great. We enjoyed it for breakfast and snack. It went very quickly!

• Basic hearth bread

  • Lepa on January 07, 2019

    This is the second time I made this loaf this week and it is glorious! It is huge and round and has a perfect crumb and wonderful taste. I am so pleased with it!

• Beer bread

  • HalfSmoke on June 03, 2018

    Followed the instructions in every detail, except that I used my grill as the steam oven, resulting in perfect micro blisters. Great depth of flavor from a super simple same day loaf.

  • ashallen on March 18, 2020

    From the author's website: In THE BEER BREAD on page 376, under the mixer method, it should read: if it is too sticky add in a little flour...

• Tyrolean ten-grain torpedo

  • anya_sf on August 21, 2021

    Thanks to ashallen for pointing out the error - I seriously thought I'd done something wrong until I saw that. Yes, the dough was dry, not sticky, before adding the grains. I used diastatic malt powder, the optional wheat gluten, and Bob's Red Mill 10-grain hot cereal, which is coarsely ground rather than whole-seed, but still worked fine. The bread was hearty and flavorful with a medium crumb, much like breads I enjoyed in Germany. Great toasted with butter and/or jam.

  • ashallen on March 18, 2020

    From the author's website: In THE TEN GRAIN TORPEDO on page 396, step #4...knead for 7 minutes. The dough will be dry.

• Banana feather loaf

  • anya_sf on April 15, 2021

    I had no idea you could use banana in sandwich bread similar to potato. The banana flavor wasn't noticeable; the bread just tasted like good white bread. I used about 20% white whole wheat flour. Good for sandwiches, especially PB&J, but I'm saving most of the loaf for French toast, which I think will be great made with this bread.

• Heart of wheat bread

  • anya_sf on December 21, 2021

    Great hearth bread. The small amount of wheat germ adds quite a bit of flavor. The headnote suggests one can start this bread at 11 am to have with dinner, but that depends on what time you eat and assumes your dough does not need any extra time; I started mine at 9:30 am and am glad I did. The bread wasn't as crusty as I'd expected - the crust softened as it cooled - but Rose does say to bake ahead and reheat for optimal crustiness.

• Authentic pumpernickel bread

  • anya_sf on April 06, 2021

    I omitted the caramel powder (didn't have), but there was plenty of color from the cocoa, malt syrup, and molasses. The dough was quite stiff, but the finished bread had a fine, soft texture with a sturdy crust, great for sandwiches. I would absolutely make this again, next time trying the denser version with whole wheat.

  • ashallen on March 17, 2020

    From the author's website: In the Authentic Pumpernickel Bread recipe on page 329, under Oven Temperature: If using La Cloche, preheat the oven to 425°F, then [reduce heat to] 400°F. In the recipe on page 333, the oven is preheated at 400°F but then should be lowered to 375°F [if not using La Cloche].

• Baguette

  • anya_sf on August 15, 2021

    Best tasting baguettes I have made thus far. I don't regret buying European-style artisan flour and a baguette pan just for this. The crust was dark and crisp, although not quite that gorgeous blistering you see in bakeries (maybe a steam master is needed for that). The baguettes did not need the extra 5 minutes at 475 and possibly could have baked 5 minutes less at 450. Timing requires planning; I did mine over 3 days with the longest proof/chill times. Shaping instructions were slightly confusing and my baguettes ended up too long and slightly misshapen. For the initial preshape, make sure the logs are really stubby or the dough will quickly exceed 8" length.

• Levy's bagels

  • anya_sf on March 23, 2021

    I refrigerated both sponge and dough overnight. My 7-qt Kitchenaid mixer handled the full batch of dough fine, but I did babysit it while kneading to make sure it didn't walk off the counter. Perhaps I should have rested the dough longer before shaping as the bagels didn't want to hold their shape and were very rough looking - the dough stuck to my hands as I put them on the parchment. They also stuck to the parchment a lot, so next time I'd try the floured towel instead. After boiling (I just did 30 seconds per side), the bagels were super wrinkly, but they smoothed out while baking. To save time, I baked all 10 bagels together on one baking sheet; they barely fit, so some edges touched and were paler, but turned out okay. These bagels were delicious, quite large, and probably the chewiest I've ever made (I used high-gluten flour).

• Brinna's pugliese

  • anya_sf on March 25, 2021

    I made the biga 3 days ahead. The small amount of pumpernickel flour enhanced both the color and flavor. Texture was medium-coarse, chewy, and somewhat spongy. Really tasty!

  • ashallen on March 17, 2020

    From the author's website: In BRINNA'S PUGLIESE on page 347, the water should be 6 tablespoons (not teaspoons).

• Wheaten croissants

  • anya_sf on March 31, 2020

    After the second turn, the dough was very difficult to roll and kept springing back. That also made it hard to shape the croissants. Per Rose's pointer, I rolled them loosely, so there weren't many swirls. After shaping, I refrigerated them overnight and proofed and baked them in the morning. They appeared to have leaked butter during proofing (too warm?), but there wasn't any leaked butter after baking - not sure what happened. Unfortunately, I think I overproofed them (accidentally fell asleep), so they were rather flat and did not look that great. However, they were wonderfully crisp and buttery, despite having less butter than many croissants.

• Butter-dipped dinner rolls

  • hibeez on February 28, 2020

    Made these for Thanksgiving. They were the best for leftover turkey sandwiches - like little sliders - perfect size, texture, consistency.

  • ashallen on March 16, 2020

    From the author's website: In the BUTTER-DIPPED DINNER ROLLS on page 249, the yield is correct as 12 rolls and the dough for each should weigh about 50 grams; page 254, if not using dry milk you can replace the water with 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk.

• Alsatian onion pizza

  • MariaSwe on May 13, 2023

    Wonderful crust and really nice topping. The recipe has you bake the crust for 5 minutes, then add the topping and bake for another 5 minutes. Never done it that way but it produced a flavourful and crisp crust. My dough was proofed for about 7 hours in the fridge. Caramelized onions and a few olives was about it for topping.

• Basic soft white sandwich loaf

  • BFG on March 09, 2023

    This recipe on page 244.

• Sourdough rye

  • ashallen on March 18, 2020

    From the author's website: In the SOURDOUGH RYE on page 453, you will be increasing the starter by 4 times, from 25 grams to 100 grams. On page 454, Hand Method, use the same amount of starter as is on the chart above (1-1/2 cups).

• Sourdough pumpernickel

  • ashallen on June 14, 2020

    From the author's website: In the SOURDOUGH PUMPERNICKEL on page 462 (Mixer Method and Hand Method) use the same amount of starter as is on the chart on page 461 (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons). on page 463, step 7, oven temperature should be 400°F, and on page 464 step 8 lower it to 375°F. If using sesame seeds, add them after the glaze.

• New Zealand almond and fig bread

  • ashallen on March 18, 2020

    From the author's website: In THE ALMOND FIG BREAD on page 412 There have been some questions about the weight of 75 grams for the coarsley chopped slivered or whole almonds. It is correct. The volume, however is a little under 1 cup. It will not hurt, however to use 1 cup.

• Prosciutto ring

  • ashallen on March 18, 2020

    From the author's website: In the PROSCIUTTO RING on page 371, the bread will weigh 1-1/2 pounds/690 grams and in the chart, the meat mixture should be 1-1/2 cups/6 ounces/170 grams.

  • LauraMB on December 30, 2022

    Delicious. Just like I remember the "pork bread," as my family called it, that my relatives would buy in New York bakeries.

• Pugliese

  • ashallen on March 17, 2020

    From the author's website: In PUGLIESE on page 363, step #5...until it has increased by about 1-1/2 times, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

• Velvety buckwheat bread

  • ashallen on March 16, 2020

    From the author's website: In the Velvety Buckwheat Bread on page 308, replace the water with 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon/6.7 ounces/192 grams of the water and 3/4 cup/6.5 ounces/182 grams sour cream.

• "Levy's" real Jewish rye bread

  • ashallen on March 16, 2020

    From the author's website: In the RYE BREAD recipe on page 326, on the flour mixture chart, the 2 1/4 cups bread flour weigh 12.3 ounces / 351 grams, and step #2: eliminate the words 'rye flour.' (Rye flour is used only in the sponge on page 325.)

  • LauraMB on December 30, 2022

    Excellent rye bread. I have baked many recipes for rye bread. This is my favorite.

• Dutch baby

  • ashallen on March 16, 2020

    From the author's website: In the DUTCH BABY on page 182, Hand Method, after "slowly beat in" add the words milk before "the eggs."

• Rosemary focaccia sheet

  • ashallen on March 16, 2020

    From the author's website: In the ROSEMARY FOCACCIA SHEET on page 205, it may take longer than 20 minutes to form a ball. For the airiest texture and largest holes, allow the dough to double for the final rise and deeply dimple the dough with wet or oiled fingertips just before baking.

• Kheema paratha

  • ashallen on October 11, 2019

    I really love the flavors of the kheema/meat filling in this recipe - intensely flavorful with wonderful spices. I've since made the filling without the paratha just so that I can eat it with rice - yum! It's an easy dish to make. The paratha part, on the other hand, I need to work on more. While the filled paratha were definitely tasty and fun to eat, mine had a few issues. Edges were a bit chewy and undercooked tasting, probably because I made them too thick in spots. Getting good contact between the paratha and the cooking pan for full cooking was a bit challenging - next time I'll break up the kheema meat lumps very finely so the paratha has a smoother surface. I'll maybe also try cooking them in a wok on a gas burner (I read traditional paratha pans are concave...). Also, my paratha weren't particularly flaky - I think my ghee might have been too liquid to form good layers. I found some tips for making paratha on the Serious Eats website - should be useful for next time!

• Bialys with onion-poppy seed filling

  • ashallen on March 16, 2020

    From the author's website: In the crisper flat BIALLY variation on page 165, Matthew suggests using 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds per bialy or a total of 2 tablespoons/18 grams.

• Pretzel bread

  • ashallen on March 16, 2020

    From the author's website: In the PRETZEL BREAD on page 172, step #2..Empty the dough onto a counter and shape it into a ball.Let it sit covered for 1 hour (it will relax and spread out slightly). Divide it into 4 pieces, divide each piece into 3 (total 12 pieces--about 1.3 ounces/33 grams each) and roll each into a ball. Shape each ball into a tapered 4-inch little football,, 1-inch wide in the middle.

• Cranberry-banana-walnut quick bread

  • ashallen on March 02, 2020

    Correction from the author's website: In the CRANBERRY-BANANA-WALNUT QUICK BREAD, page 101, the correct baking temperature is 350 degrees F.

• Southwestern corn spoon bread

  • ashallen on March 02, 2020

    From the author's website: In the SOUTHWESTERN CORN SPOON BREAD, page 110, the “corn mixture” which is stirred into the flour mixture, is the Filling made on pages 109-110.

• Quintessential corn muffins

  • ashallen on August 23, 2019

    Very nice corn muffins. Good corn flavor and a springy but tender crumb that doesn't fall apart when you pull the muffin from the tin. I baked these to an internal temperature of 195F and would probably pull them at 190F next time to get them a bit moister. I did not add blueberries as suggested in the recipe variation - doing so would have added moisture (as would my S.O.'s (but not mine!) favorite for cornbread - raisins!). Also, I used the same medium-grind stone ground cornmeal I usually use for cornbread - I think a more finely ground one (or a mix of fine + medium grind) would be better for these. Texture and flavor definitely best on the day they're made, though still OK the next day.

  • ashallen on February 24, 2020

    Made these with optional blueberries this time. Used frozen wild blueberries. Texture was more tender and moister than the non-blueberry version even though I baked them until they were 199-208F in centers this time. Good! Not super-sweet. Definitely a muffin vs. a tiny cake. A drizzle of dark maple syrup on the sliced, warm muffin worked great.

• Ginger biscuits

  • ashallen on July 30, 2022

    This recipe produced moist, tender, lightly sweet biscuits with a lovely ginger flavor. Quite scone-like. I used all buttermilk and self-rising White Lily flour. Unfortunately my biscuit's dimensions were wrong - instead of rising up, the biscuits spread out and were 3-4 inches wide. I think there are several possible reasons why - my White Lily flour wasn't very fresh so maybe its leavening was tired, I forgot to put parchment paper on the baking sheet, perhaps I didn't knead the biscuit dough thoroughly enough, and I cut the dough into 9 squares instead of cutting out circles with a biscuit cutter - perhaps that sealed the edges. I'll have to try again!

• Touch-of-grace biscuits

  • ashallen on March 01, 2020

    Excellent biscuits. Despite using shortening (I used Spectrum organic), these have wonderful rich flavor - I buttered my first but skipped on the rest. Texture's moist and melt-in-your mouth tender. Lightly crusty exterior and soft, non-layered interior. Didn't rise super-high during baking - mine were ~1-1.25 inches high.This might be due in part to my using King Arthur's unbleached cake flour vs White Lily flour - it has twice the protein and probably makes a heavier biscuit (great flavor though!). I also used 3/4 cup heavy cream + 1/2 cup buttermilk - Beranbaum says using all buttermilk yields a lighter biscuit. Author says biscuits will be 160F in center when done - typo? Mine were ~200F. Leftover biscuits kept surprisingly well to next day in an airtight container. This recipe is Rose Levy Beranbaum's version (with her usual great tips) of Shirley Corriher's "Touch of Grace Biscuit" recipe - the latter is available online from multiple sources.

  • ashallen on October 23, 2020

    Made these again using White Lily self-rising flour as called for in the recipe and, as promised, they were wonderfully tender (a bit more so than when made with King Arthur's unbleached cake flour). In fact, they were so tender that a couple of them "exploded" into pieces when I inverted the biscuits onto a serving plate. I was moving quickly and must have been too rough - next time I'll handle them more carefully!

• Flaky scones

  • ashallen on December 18, 2019

    Great scones! Some scone recipes advise handling the dough very lightly - this one goes the other way and calls for folding and rolling the dough multiple times like one does when making puff pastry. I was impressed by how well it worked. Lots of flaky layers and a beautiful high rise during baking. Exterior was lightly crisp and interior was rich and moist. I made the lemon poppy seed version which was lightly sweet - I'll add a bit more sugar next time. Recipe calls for lemon zest only so no tartness but nice, strong lemon scent. The lemons at the store this week had a wonderful aroma and that carried over to the scones! Untrimmed dough edges stayed "pinched" during cooking and didn't rise as high as trimmed edges. Squatter triangles held shape better than elongated ones which wanted to flop more to the side. Used insulated cookie sheet+no baking stone. Removing from oven at 200F in center worked great - I tried taking one out at ~192F and it was overly moist (bit sludge-y) inside.

• Panettone with chestnuts

  • ashallen on June 14, 2020

    From the author's website: In the PANETTONE on page 513, use only 1/4 teaspoon of fiori di Sicilia (the 1/2 teaspoon listed in the earlier printings is just a bit too intense).

• Crumpets

  • Shelmar on December 11, 2022

    Pretty good. p.175

• Cinnamon raisin loaf

  • dbuhler on April 14, 2024

    I've made this recipe a couple of times and it is a winner every time! The dough is so soft and very flavorful from the sponge preferment. I made the optional Cinnamon Sugar Swirl filling and this time I realized that she recommends the brush the roll with egg wash as you roll it so the filling will adhear better. This is something that I missed the last time I made it and it worked very well. I had a really tight spiral that didn't separate during baking! This makes two loaves...we ate one fresh and then I put the 2nd loaf in the freezer to save for French toast. This is my go-to cinnamon raisin bread!

• Chocolate almond swirl kugelhopf

  • dbuhler on August 04, 2023

    This was very delicious!! I used 60 grams of homemade almond paste and I used the dry milk substitution using KA's special bakers dry milk. I also did the 1 hour counter rest for the sponge and then put it in the fridge. I definitely overbaked it as the internal temp was closer to 200 degrees F rather than the target temp of 180 degrees F. It also split on the sides which means that I either over proofed it or rolled it too tight (or both)! Evan though I overbaked it, it was still soft and fluffy on the inside and so yummy! I am definitely going to try this again! We ate half and then I froze the other half. The thawed bread/cake wasn't as good as fresh, so I cut it up and used it in a bread pudding!

• Cracked wheat loaf

  • LauraMB on December 30, 2022

    Makes a very good, soft loaf. I did find the sponge to be a bit too wet.

• Food52

  Beranbaum really covers how to make sourdough. If you're an amateur baker looking to school yourself on sourdough, this book is for you.

  Full review