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Opening up the crumb

by Dan Lepard
Opening up the crumb

Combining techniques in the commercial bakery to create holes, lightness and a majestic slice

Remember: baking is not a set of separate processes, but rather one single process defined by different stages. Thus, change any part and you will cause changes in every subsequent stage, from mixing to baking. Assess each of the ideas [...]

Crisp, golden, light, salty & oily

by Dan Lepard
Crisp, golden, light, salty & oily

Making a Focaccia Genovese in a commercial bakery

(originally published in British Baker)
Foccacia has a home, in Italy, and a birthplace in the town of Genoa. That’s what Italians from Genoa tell me. But then as every man, woman and child of Italian extraction seems to have a slightly different take on their homeland’s culinary traditions, [...]

A baguette by any other name……

by Dan Lepard
A baguette by any other name……

…would smell as sweet.
Recipes and tricks for improving your sticks
(Originally published in British Baker)
Recipes for the perfect baguette are probably as numerous as bakeries in France, and each baker appears to claim a secret ingredient or technique that makes him the star boulanger. But do they have anything in common?
Well, flour for a start. A [...]

Bake class: cookie cravings

by Dan Lepard
Bake class: cookie cravings

This week’s how-to class is all about cookies and biscuits: soft and gooey ones as well as utterly crisp and snappy numbers; post any questions you have below and I’ll try to help, or if you have a better way, let us know. Look for this Saturday’s ginger macadamia biscuits recipe, so good I made it three [...]

dough

Starting Sourdough

by Dan Lepard
Starting Sourdough

Once you get the knack of making a sourdough it will seem as effortless as making a cup of coffee. What I do is keep spoon-sized nuggets of sourdough in the freezer ready to make a loaf whenever I want. The day or night before I want to bake the loaf I drop one of [...]