Della Fattoria Bread: 63 Foolproof Recipes for Yeasted, Enriched & Naturally Leavened Breads Hardcover – October 7, 2014

Anyone can make a loaf of plain sandwich bread. This book covers that and then takes you on to skill sets that will help you master artisan bread. If you want old world bread this is the book to get.

For such an expensive book there were a dozen folded dog eared pages.

There were a few issues I had in baking bread with this book. I found that the printed cup measurements resulted in different weights compared to the printed weights in the pizza dough recipe, but the cup measurements matched the weights in the white sandwich bread recipe. I went with the weight measurements for both recipes, but they ought to be consistent.For the most part, the directions are easy to follow, but there are some places where confusion could occur. While following the cinnamon raisin bread recipe, there's nothing explicitly said about the liquid the raisins have been soaking in and whether it should be added or discarded.Finally, a number of the yeasted breads refer back to the basic white bread. Having to flip back and forth with dough all over your hands is not ideal, especially when there are many pages in between and the book is in a cookbook stand.I have made the overnight pizza, using the tomato sauce recipe provided in the cookbook, as well as the cinnamon raisin bread. The dough was really sticky, and I had some trouble transferring it at each step - pizza #1 wound up being more of a calzone. However, all three medium pizzas plus the "calzone" it yielded were outstanding. My dinner guests devoured them (I topped the pizza with a mix of summer squash, bell peppers, chicken sausage, parmesan and mozzarella). I also baked the cinnamon raisin bread; it was similarly sticky and difficult to work with, but avoid temptation and do not add extra flour. The bread is really, really good. I may not love the design layout, but the recipes do yield great bread.

I liked most things about this book. It inspired me to bake again which already resulted in some delicious breads and pizzas based on the recipes. The layout is beautiful and there are some really good tips in there, that I haven't found elsewhere.One thing bothered me though. Considering that the author makes a repeated point of "The importance of Weighing" and being very precise, (based on her recommendations, I bought a scale that measures down to a tenth of a gram), I found some problems especially with the numbers in this book.For example, the recipes for biga are given for a small batch (makes 209 g), medium batch (makes 417 g), large batch (makes 835 g). She then goes on to say that a Country Wheat Boule (which I happened to select as my first try) would require a medium batch of biga. However, in the actual recipe, it says that 140 g of biga is required, which would be less than a small batch. This left me somewhat confused, and questioning some of the other instructions. The explanation of the baker's box also contains an error.Overall, I do like the book, and can recommend it to others.

As a guy getting started cooking in my 40's, this book is perfect! It is gourmet enough to please mine and my wife's palates, but simple enough for an amateur like me to make truly amazing bread. I had tried probably 4-5 other artisan bread books during the last 2 years, and they were either too complicated (most common problem), required cooking items we don't have, or didn't taste good enough to be worth the effort.This book is completely different! It is simple, has very helpful (and stylish) pictures and instructions, includes an interesting storyline, and produces amazing bread from the very first try! Most of the recipes say to cool the bread completely before eating, but to be honest, during the last 2 months of cooking from this book, hardly any bread has cooled before my family has eaten it!

We went to the Della Fattoria restaurant early in the week I regretted not getting this book when I was there. I happily found it here and ordered it right away. The instructions are clear and concise with technique pointers. I've NEVER made bread from scratch before. I was able to follow the book and turn out some awesome bread. I'm hooked, I want to try another one.

I bake a lot and am enjoying making the basic recipe from this book. The funny thing is, I can't seem to get it quite right. BUT, I like what comes out. Will venture on to others, but happy to have a book I can use to make regular sandwich bread for my kids.

I've made the basic sandwich bread twice already and it is moist, has nice slightly chewy texture and excellent keeping qualities. It's great sliced as is or as a panini. It's vastly superior to store bought bread- healthier, less expensive and delicious. I use it to make sandwiches for lunch at work. Beats cafeteria food any day. I'm highly encouraged to try other recipes in the book when time allows. The basic sandwich bread recipe alone is worth the Kindle price when it was on sale during the Holidays.

Love this book. The family background story about how they got into baking bread and the lessons learned along the way. This is not just another bread recipe book!! The Information provided about the equipment needed, the ingredients used and where to purchase the best of what you need is invaluable. I believe when your are armed with this knowledge so you are destined to be successful at baking. Also love that the ingredients are listed by weight.

Loved this book so much I ordered a second copy for my recreational home. What I disliked is th got a used copy.

The technique and theory were useful. The recipes use a lot of dairy (milk) that I don't normally use in the bread I make so it's back to experimenting with alternate milks to see what will work and what won't. Very good book for the novice "rustic" bread baker. She gives good explanations for the choices of ingredients and the book is full of anecdotes and stories.

Great bread baking book. Easy to follow with lots of how to do pictures. Easy to follow simple recipes. I just love this book so much that I just purchased another one for my daughter. This is a good book for beginners too, as well as seasoned bakers who need some inspiration