2014 Gift Guide, Day 27

Rolling in Dough

Baking your own bread is the most satisfying thing you can do in the kitchen.  For lazy people (count me among them), Jim Leahy’s excellent no-knead recipe produces an astonishingly satisfying loaf.

But bread's my favorite food - the answer I always give when people ask what I'd eat if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life.  Then I think of something wild, crusty, deeply brown, with a moist crumb and formidable elasticity.  Spread with cold sweet butter....

Bread like that demands commitment. It took Chad Robertson, co-owner of Tartine Bakery, over ten years to perfect his now legendary loaf (pictured here).

If you've got bread nerds on your list, people you really love, consider giving them a series of classes at the San Francisco Baking Institute. It’s a real commitment on your part ($1000.) And on theirs too; SFBI offers hands-on five-day intensives that make your average cooking class look like a speed-dating exercise. For beginners there's the Systematic Approach to Breads; for those who've mastered the basics there are advanced intensives on everything from German breads to viennoiserie. 

If you're not ready to spend a grand on your friend, here's another suggestion for passionate bread bakers: Sam Fromartz's In Search of the Perfect Loaf is a wonderful read that's filled with information that even the most knowledgable baker will find fascinating.