W

2010 Top Ten

Bread Bakers
in America presented by

For the first time, Dessert Professional has delved deeply

into the world of artisan bread to name the Top Ten Bread
Bakers in America. This group of distinguished bakers has
mastered the art and technique of creating the perfect loaf—
that elusive combination of flavor, texture and appearance.
Though their backgrounds and approaches to baking may
differ, one characteristic was common to all the bakers on our
list: their willingness to share recipes and information and
to teach others about their craft, with the goal of improving
the quality of bread in America. Following is a short profile
of each of our Top Ten Bread Bakers in America, as well as
recipes. We also include a profile of Tom McMahon, our first
honoree for the Bread Bakers’ Hall of Fame.

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pastry
Busniess profile: Amy’s Bread is a neighborhood bakery in the
middle of a big city. Although our staff and production have
grown, we still feel like a small, local gathering place. You can
come in and enjoy great bread, delicious morning pastries,
sandwiches, cakes and other sweets, but we’re still a bread
bakery at heart.
How it all began: I made my first loaf when I was 13, but didn’t
bake a substantial amount of bread until 1989 when I started to
study bread baking.
What are you trying to do differently? I am really focused on
making sure we have a great workplace for our employees. We
take good care of our staff, and at last count, 24 our bakers have
stayed for between 9 and 18 years! These long-term bakers help
supervise the daily production and ensure that the quality of
the bread is the best it can be every day. They take great pride
in their work and (mostly) enjoy working behind the large glass
windows in Chelsea Market where everyone can watch us
making our products. The glass storefront keeps us on our toes!
How many types of bread do you make? We mix 25 different
kinds of dough each day, and each one is made into 2-5 different
products, so our selection is vast!
Favorite type of bread to make: I usually like to make wet,
sticky dough like Rustic Italian because it looks like it will
never come together, and then, voila! It finally takes shape and
becomes gorgeous, holey bread.
Favorite bread to eat: I love grainy breads. My current
favorite (this changes regularly) is my new Peasant Wheat with
Toasted Seeds Roll, a mild whole wheat bread with pumpkin,
sunflower, flax and sesame seeds inside, and a toasty coating of
the same seeds and a bit of sea salt on the outside. It’s crunchy,
chewy, nutty, toasty, and delicious.
Bread philosophy: From simple to complex, good bread starts
with well chosen flour, a perfectly fermented starter, plenty
of water, and the right balance of salt and other ingredients.
Given ample floor time at a moderate temperature, the bread
dough develops the complex aromas and flavors ready to be
released from this fermenting mixture. An intuitive baker and
a good oven are the other ingredients that make good bread.
Signature products: The bread we are best known for is
Semolina with Golden Raisins and Fennel. Our Black Olive
Twists and Chocolate Sourdough Twists are also very unique
and have many fans.
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Amy Scherber
Amy’s Bread
Owner: Amy Scherber
75 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10011
(and multiple locations)
212-977-2670
www.amysbread.com
Best compliment you’ve ever received about your bread:
French people telling me that my bread is better than their
favorite bread in France. (French tourists flock to my bakery
because we are raved about in their guide books!)
Best part of the bread business: Bread bakers are interesting
characters. They are hard working, a bit crazy, and usually
quite willing to share ideas and secrets with their colleagues
and competitors. I really love the camaraderie among bakers
and their openness with each other. It’s a very unique business
that allows this kind of connection and admiration among
people that compete with each other in the industry.
If you weren’t making bread, what would you be doing?
Lately I have had a chance to do some gardening and have
really enjoyed it, so I think I would be a vegetable and flower
gardener if I weren’t baking. Gardening reminds me of bread
baking: It’s hard work, it takes lots of endurance to get all the
work done, you need to work with your hands and stand on
your feet for long periods of time, there is a lot of heavy lifting,
it’s hot work on a summer day (like standing in front of the
bread oven), and the end result is very gratifying.
If you had to characterize yourself as a type of bread, what
would you be? I would be a Whole Wheat Walnut loaf. I am
glossy deep brown (that’s the dark hair), crunchy (that’s the
protective exterior that helps me run a bakery), grainy and
healthy (interested in healthful eating), slightly sweet (from a
dab of honey) and a little nutty.
What’s next? We need more space. So I guess that means
growing into a bigger bakery one of these days! Where and
when is still to be seen.
What direction do you see the bread baking industry
heading? These are some trends that I have seen recently:
People still love bread, but they also love sugar. Bakeries today
must provide customers with more than bread. If they have
retail stores, they are expected to offer sweets, sandwiches,
beverages—a full range of products besides bread. As much
as people talk about whole grain breads, white breads like the
baguette still outsell all others by a large margin. We get lots of
requests for breads for special diets like gluten free, wheat free,
etc. Restaurants have cut back on their bread baskets or have
stopped offering bread in the more casual concepts. Bread is
here to stay, but expect to see fewer or simpler bread baskets
in restaurants, and bakeries with 5 or 6 kinds of bread to offer,
and a huge case full of sweets to keep their customers happy!
Semolina Bread

2010 Top Ten Bread Bakers in America

with Apricots
and Sage
Made with Biga Starter

Makes three 1-pound

round loaves
Equipment: baking stone and wooden
peel, one 17 x 12-inch sheet pan

This lovely golden bread is both sweet

and savory. Apricots sweeten the loaves
and chopped fresh sage adds an earthy,
grassy flavor. It is similar to our Semolina
with Golden Raisins and Fennel in
shape, color, and texture. We form and
cut the bread into a sunflower—a special
shape we make for all the holidays. It
also makes a unique gift because it looks
so pretty. We like to serve this Semolina
with Apricots and Sage with fish or
poultry, and we’ve even diced it to add
to Thanksgiving turkey stuffing. With
its crunchy cornmeal crust and dense,
almost cakelike interior, this bread is
sure to please.

8 oz/227 g dried apricots, diced

2 oz/57 g very warm water (105º to 115ºF)
1 tsp active dry yeast
12.5 oz/355 g cool water (75ºF)
10 oz/284 g Biga (see below)
18.35 oz/520 g patent durum flour
6 oz/170 g medium yellow cornmeal
.56 oz/16 g kosher salt
.25 oz/7g fresh sage leaves, chopped
Extra cornmeal, for sprinkling

1. Place the apricots in a large measuring

somewhat resilient. The dough will still the dough in the middle of the bowl with
cup, and add warm water to come just
be somewhat firm. Put the dough back your fingertips, then fold the left side
below the top of the fruit. Set aside to
into the mixing bowl, cover with oiled over the middle, and the right side over
soak.
plastic wrap, and let rest for 20 minutes the middle. Fold the dough in half, gently
2. Combine the very warm water and
to smooth out and develop elasticity. pat it down, and then turn it over so the
yeast in a medium bowl and stir with a
6. Drain the apricots. Spread out the seam is underneath. Let it rise again for
fork to dissolve the yeast. Let the mixture
dough in the mixing bowl and evenly 40 minutes to 1 hour, until it doubles in
stand for 3 minutes.
sprinkle on the chopped sage and diced volume. When the dough is fully risen,
3. Add the cool water and biga to the
apricots. Press them into the dough, then an indentation made by poking your
yeast mixture and mix with your fingers
pull the dough from the edges of the bowl finger deep into the dough should not
for about 2 minutes, breaking up the
and fold it in toward the middle. Knead spring back.
starter. The mixture should look milky
the dough in the bowl until the fruit and 9. Divide the dough into three equal
and slightly foamy.
sage are incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. pieces, about 510 grams/18 ounces each.
4. Whisk the flour, cup of the cornmeal,
7. Gather the dough into a loose ball, lift it Shape each piece into a boule.
and the salt together in a large bowl. Pour
up and oil the bowl, then place it back in 10. Place the remaining cup cornmeal
in the yeast mixture and mix with your
the bowl, along with any loose apricots. in a bowl. Using a plant mister, spray
fingers until the dough forms a sticky
Turn the dough to coat with oil, cover each loaf generously with water, then
mass. If the dough feels too stiff, add cool
the bowl with oiled plastic wrap, and let roll the loaves in the cornmeal, coating
water 1 tablespoon at a time.
it rise at room temperature (75º to 77ºF) them completely. Place the loaves on the
5. Move the dough to a very lightly floured
for 1 hour. work surface and press down gently to
surface and knead for 5 to 8 minutes,
8. After 1 hour, turn the dough while it is flatten them into disks about 8 inches in
until it is smooth, elastic, supple, and
still in the mixing bowl. Gently deflate diameter.
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 11. Line a peel and cover a baking sheet
pastry
with parchment paper and sprinkle with
cornmeal. Place one disk on the peel and
the others on the baking sheet, leaving
at least 4 inches between each loaf. If
you don’t have a baking stone, place one
loaf on one baking sheet, and two on the
other to rise. Let the loaves rise for 45
minutes to 1 hour.
12. Thirty minutes before baking, preheat
the oven to 425ºF. Prepare the oven by
placing a cast-iron skillet and a smaller
pan (a mini loaf pan) on the floor of the
oven or on the lowest possible rack in
an electric oven. Place an oven rack
two rungs above the cast-iron pan, and
if you have one, put a baking stone on
the rack. Place another oven rack on the
rung just below the stone. Fill a plastic
spray bottle with water. Fill a teakettle
with water to be boiled later, and have a
metal 1-cup measure
with a straight handle
available near the
kettle.
13. Five to 10 minutes
before the loaves are
ready to bake, turn the
water on to boil, and
carefully place two or
three ice cubes in the
small loaf pan in the
bottom of the oven.
This helps to create
moisture in the oven
prior to baking.
14. Place an inverted
mug or glass with a 3-
to 4-inch opening in
the center of one disk.
Press it gently into
the dough, and use a
dough cutter to cut the
dough into 4 wedges,
starting at the edge of
the glass. Cut those wedges in half, then in
half again, so you have 16 segments. Give
each cut segment a quarter-turn so a cut
side is facing upward. If the dough feels
too sticky, don’t twist the segments—just
leave them fl at and separate each one
slightly from the one next to it. Remove
the glass, leaving an uncut area in the
center of the loaf. Repeat the procedure
with the other 2 disks. Let the loaves rest
for 10 minutes before baking.
15. Make sure the parchment is not
sticking to the peel, open the oven door,
and gently slide the bread onto the stone.
Place the pan of bread on the rack below.
Or if using two baking sheets, place one
on the upper rack and one on the rack
below that. Quickly mist the loaves with
water 6 to 8 times, pour 1 cup of boiling
water into the skillet, and immediately
shut the oven door. After 1 minute,
52
quickly mist the loaves with water again,
then shut the oven door.
16. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the
oven temperature to 375ºF and bake for
15 to 18 minutes longer, until the loaves
are a golden yellow-brown and sound
hollow when tapped on the bottom. The
crust should be firm but not too dark;
watch the bread carefully—it will brown
quickly during the last few minutes of
baking. Place the loaves on wire racks
and cool completely before serving.
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Unbleached all-purpose flour with a
protein content of 11.7% was used in
the biga. We recommend using medium
cornmeal for this dough. Fine cornmeal
does not produce a contrasting texture,
and coarse cornmeal is too rough and
makes the bottom crust very tough. Bob’s
Red Mill produces medium cornmeal
and corn grits (polenta). Both work well
for this dough.
Biga Starter
Many of our recipes use a biga starter
made from flour, water, and a small
amount of yeast. Biga, which is the Italian
word for starter, was called Sponge
Starter in the first version of Amy’s
Bread, but today the word biga is well
known by bread bakers so we decided to
use it here as well. Biga usually refers to
a starter made with yeast, not sourdough,
although sourdough biga (biga naturale)
can be found in some Italian recipes.
This starter, which is thicker than
poolish, is allowed to ferment for at least
8 hours. It can then be used immediately
or stored in the refrigerator, covered
with plastic wrap, for up to 24 hours. We
like breads made with biga because they
have a moist, chewy texture with more
flavor, a nicer crust, and a longer shelf
life than straight yeasted breads. These
are many of the same qualities that make
sourdough breads so appealing, but you
can achieve them without the extended
process of making a sourdough starter.
Small Batch
Makes 400 grams / 14 ounces / 1 cups
7 oz/200 g very warm water (105° to 115°F)
1/8 tsp active dry yeast
8 oz/227 g unbleached all-purpose flour
Large Batch
Makes 800 grams / 28 ounces / 3 cups
Equipment: one 2-quart clear plastic or
glass container with high sides
14 oz/397 g very warm
water (105° to 115°F)
¼ tsp active dry yeast
16 oz/454 g
unbleached all-
purpose flour
1. In a medium bowl,
mix the warm water
and yeast together
and stir to dissolve the
yeast. Add the flour
and stir vigorously
with a wooden spoon
for 1 to 2 minutes, until
a smooth, somewhat
elastic batter has
formed. The batter
will be fairly thick and
stretchy; it gets softer
and more elastic after
it has risen. Scrape
the biga into the
container, mark the height of the starter
and the time on a piece of tape on the
side of the container so you can see how
much it rises, and cover the container
with plastic wrap.
2. Let it rise at room temperature (75º to
78ºF) for 6 to 8 hours. Or let it rise for 1
hour at room temperature, then chill it in
the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
Remove it from the refrigerator and let it
sit at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours
to warm up and become active before
use. Biga should more than double in
volume. If you use the starter while it’s
still cold from the refrigerator, be sure
to compensate for the cold temperature
by using warm water (85ºF to 90ºF) in
your dough, instead of the cool water
specified in the recipe. Use the starter
while it is still bubbling up, but before it
starts to deflate.