This is definitely a book that can be read from start to finish and is more rewarding using it that way, rather than picking through looking for recipes. The book is structured almost as a course in bread baking, taking you from your basic white loaf to complicated laminated dough for croissants and pain au chocolat. I'm a baker who appreciates knowing the science behind what's happening in the bowl or oven - it helps me to understand what I'm doing, why things go wrong, and how I can adjust recipes or use a recipe as the basis for my own creation. This is where the book really shines: James Morton is the GBBO contestant who was a medical student, and he approaches baking the way I do. He has learned about the science and explains the whys of gluten, yeast, sour dough starters and so on in ways that are easy to understand. Even things like the relationship between cooking time and crust are explained! I also really appreciate his discussion of things like long proves in the fridge and why they're great for flavour as well as making bread baking easier to fit into your life.

The recipes are pretty great, too :-) So far, I've made his focaccia and the bread rolls, both of which came out beautifully (the rolls are pictured further up the thread). I have plans to try out a tea loaf today and prove it overnight in the fridge for the first time. Next up, I want to try one of the wholemeal bread recipes and the rye and raisin bread. I'd baked bread before I bought this book, but all I'd really done was fine one recipe and never, ever vary from it because it worked. So I wasn't exactly a bread expert! I'd say this book has something for everyone from novice to experienced baker. The early recipes are achievable by anyone and there are plenty of more advanced recipes later in the book for bakers with ambition. For the first time, I actually think I might be able to achieve some of those complicated recipes one day. I've set myself a goal of trying to master the simplified rough puff croissants by the time I go to England for Christmas in 2018 - to give the family some Christmas morning croissants :-)

Highly recommended ( )