The Ambitious Baker

Hello! I'm Anne and I'll be baking all of the 120 recipies in Paul Hollywood's book How To Bake in 365 days! 

[theambitiousbaker]

Chocolate, Peanut, and Raisin Clusters

Recipe #30. Page. 202. I was unsure of how raisins would be in these. Paul Hollywood seems to be a massive fan of raisins. Personally… I am not. So, it’s definitely been interesting to …

[theambitiousbaker]

Baguette Au Levain

Recipe #29. Page. 135. Baguettes are one of my favorite kinds of bread and sourdough baguettes take regular baguettes to an entirely different level! These are definitely a family favorite and (sin…

[theambitiousbaker]

Scones and Fresh Butter

Recipe #28. Page. 205. Scones! Simple, delicious, the perfect thing for breakfast, lunch, or tea! I usually find scones to be quite dry, so it’s difficult for me to eat them. But these were v…

[theambitiousbaker]

Spiced Coffee and Date Cake

Recipe #27. Page. 237. I love a good coffee cake. I think it’s an excellent way to start the day, even though I don’t drink coffee any more (stomach issue, we won’t go into it). C…

[theambitiousbaker]

Mince Pies

Recipe #26. Page. 280. I thought mincemeat had meat in it. It’s in the name, so I don’t think it was that much of an assumption. However, th

[theambitiousbaker]

Crumpets

Recipe #25. Page. 77. Are crumpets American English muffins? Are they not? Who knows! Okay, but in complete honesty, there is a difference.

[theambitiousbaker]

Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts

Recipe #24. Page. 287. Okay, let it be known puff pastry is really not my favorite thing to make or work with. It’s temperamental and super time consuming. So, I did slightly procrastinate ma…

[theambitiousbaker]

Rosemary and Lemon Sourdough (and curried sweet potato soup!)

Recipe #23. Page. 152. Happy Autumn! I’m so happy it’s here and summer is over… And better way to usher in this season than with a delicious

[theambitiousbaker]

Brioche

Recipe #22. Page. 186. Brioche! The bread of breakfast sandwiches and… breakfast sandwiches. I’m not really sure what else brioche is used f

[heyblinken]

I did not know salt kills yeast. You’d think I’d know this, but always learning! Lol

[theambitiousbaker]

@heyblinken It’s super interesting! That’s one of the reasons why it’s good to add salt to bread - it slows down yeast growth so we don’t get bread clouds! (As well as adding/creating the flavour of the bread!)

[heyblinken]

@theambitiousbaker oooooh that makes so much sense lol. I seriously always thought it was just flavor related. Who knew yeast was so similar to snails :P

[theambitiousbaker]

@heyblinken Hahaha, exactly!

[theambitiousbaker]

Brioche

Recipe #22. Page. 186. Brioche! The bread of breakfast sandwiches and… breakfast sandwiches. I’m not really sure what else brioche is used f

[heyblinken]

I did not know salt kills yeast. You’d think I’d know this, but always learning! Lol

[theambitiousbaker]

@heyblinken It’s super interesting! That’s one of the reasons why it’s good to add salt to bread - it slows down yeast growth so we don’t get bread clouds! (As well as adding/creating the flavour of the bread!)

[theambitiousbaker]

Brioche

Recipe #22. Page. 186. Brioche! The bread of breakfast sandwiches and… breakfast sandwiches. I’m not really sure what else brioche is used f

[theambitiousbaker]

Passion Fruit Souffles

Recipe #21. Page. 221. I have never made a soufflé before. To be honest, I didn’t even know what really went into making a soufflé. The most I knew was a (debatably true?) thing from my child…

[theambitiousbaker]

Banana Bread

Recipe #20. Page. 233. I feel like everyone knows someone who has their Banana Bread Recipe with capital letters who swears theirs is the best around. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s not. My …

[theambitiousbaker]

Ale Bread Rolls

Recipe #19. Page. 62. It’s been quite a while since I’ve made a “normal” bread. And by normal, I mean there’s nothing that wonky added into it and it’s not sourd…

[theambitiousbaker]

Cheddar and Bacon Loaf

Recipe #18. Page. 104. So, wow, 2 cheddar and bacon recipes back to back! I clearly didn’t plan that well… Oops. Well, it was a delicious week, for sure. I love making breads and I feel…

[theambitiousbaker]

Croissants/Cheddar Bacon Croissants

Recipe #17. Page. 164. Croissants are something I’ve never even considered making at home. The elusive weave of layers of dough just seemed impossible to replicate to me. And yet… Paul …

[theambitiousbaker]

Spitfire Sourdough

Recipe #16. Page. 140. Another sourdough recipe! This one went better than my first, although still not perfectly. Which, is fine. Not perfect is fine. But I would like to be able to master sourdou…