Member Reviews
I liked most of the toppings, they were interesting.
My favourites were The Tree of Life!
Unfortunately this Book wasn't as diverse in its recipes as I would have loved it to be.
The garnishing work was very lovely (if not a little bit too blant at times), but unfortunately for a baking/cooking Book this didn not have enough WIP photographs in it, which was a shame.
Can I recommend it and how will my rating be?
-Well, I can absolutely recommend this… for example to those who like the their <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/focaccia#Noun_2">Focacce</a> to not always be that blant and those who love to play a bit with food in a good way. 😉
-And my Rating will be 3.3 Stars!
Extremely impressed by the flower compositions on artfully decorated focaccia (the lilies??????), not so much with the classic painting recreations (because I'm a spoiled millenial with a visually oversaturated mind who sees these kinds of aesthetic food posts on instagram all day). I will try out the basic focaccia dough recipe asap.
"Beautiful Bread" by Theresa Culletto is an absolute masterpiece in the world of bread baking, earning a well-deserved five-star rating. This book is a treasure trove of knowledge and creativity that caters to both beginners like me as well as expert bread bakers, offering a delightful journey into the art of turning rustic focaccia bread into edible masterpieces.
Culletto, a professional baker and bread artist, shares her expertise with generosity and passion. The book not only guided me in making four types of focaccia — white, whole wheat, dark multigrain, and sweet—but also elevated bread baking to an art form by teaching techniques for decorating these breads with an array of ingredients, including vegetables, fruits, herbs, seeds, and more.
What I feel sets "Beautiful Bread" apart from other bread books are the over thirty stunning bread art projects inspired by a wide range of themes, from flowers and famous artists to nature and holidays. The projects, which include Spring Tulips, Monet's Lily Pond, Solar System, and Christmas Tree, are not only visually appealing but also deeply inspiring. Each one is accompanied by step-by-step instructions and vibrant photos that make the creative process accessible and enjoyable. The inclusion of recipes for both savory and sweet toppings and fillings adds versatility to the creations, allowing readers to experiment and personalize their edible artworks.
For beginners, the book offers a comprehensive overview of bread baking 101, covering essential ingredients, tools, and terminology. However, for seasoned bakers, Theresa provides a wealth of inventive tips and techniques that elevate bread making to an art form.
In summary, "Beautiful Bread" is a five-star gem that empowers bakers to transform bread into edible art. Theresa Culletto's expertise, creativity, and passion shine through in every page of this book. It's a must-have for anyone who wants to elevate their bread baking skills and create stunning, delicious masterpieces that are almost too beautiful to eat.
Turning the pages of this book, I felt as though I could smell the bread baking as the colours and beauty filled the page. Without a doubt, readers will be inspired to bake their own masterpieces with artistic flair, just as Theresa Culletto does.
Aside from being enchanted with Theresa's eatable creations, the introduction provides the reader with some great information about artisan bread and bread art and what you need to get started. I particularly appreciated the part on The Rise and Fall of Dough. The explanation helps with the success of your dough creation, along with the Making the Cut section which gives some great recommendations for the best herbs and vegetables to use.
It's a fun, tasty looking cook book that is a real treat for the senses and I highly recommend it.
I loved having a large gorgeous picture of each bread! It helps me work towards the example I want The author gives you information on what you will need, notes about vegetables, herbs, etc., and introduces the reader to artisan breads. The steps are easy to follow and several looked easy enough for me, a newbie, to try. I would recommend it this to any one who wants to get into bread art.
What a beautiful, encompassing cookbook! Sweet and savory recipes accompany brilliant photos of designs for every holiday or gathering. Truly impressive and a treat to read.
This book has the most stunning bread ever. It is an inspiration in itself. It gives clear instructions on how to create stunnung looking focaccia at home.
I’ve always loved Artistic Focaccia bread, but never really knew where to start with it. So when I saw this book on Net Galley for review I snapped it up! I really enjoyed reading this book and I love that they included a whole wheat and a multigrain bread option.
I also liked the way the artistic scenes were categorized, and in particular, will attempt the flower and nature scenes.
This was a great, but specific cookbook, that I recommend for people who have wanted to attempt this style of bread (I am even in an online form that posts pictures of bread like this). I don’t know that I would recommend it to general bakers, but if artistic focaccia intrigues you, I recommend it.
Don't we all love bread? Especially after the pandemic it took us back to our roots of why the art of making bread is special to us so this book feels especially timely and wow does it deliver and more!
There are so many favorites in this one the Tree of Life, the Easter Basket, Claude Monet's Lily Pond, and my ultimate favorite Wrapped Bouquet! But let's start with why this is such a treasure of a cookbook. Of course, this is artisan bread art at its finest with food as the medium but what makes me love this book so much is there isn't one thing Theresa Culletto left out of this book to not be successful at making your own "artful masterpieces."
She lists the tools needed, a great introduction, essential ingredients, baking tips, details on how to do latticework, braiding, and stenciling and then there are the recipes!
The recipes are divided up in the contests as follows Foccacia dough recipes, flowers, artist inspired, nature inspired, holiday and special occasions, and then additional recipes such as fillings and the oh-so-delicious Sweet Lemon Cream!
Of course, everything is stunning but it is as delicious as it looks from the two recipes I followed which were the Wrapped Bouquet and Sweet Lemon Cream! It's a dream of a cookbook for artisan bread and it's so well done that this should become a classic. I'm off to try my hand at the Cinnamon Star and try to make this a signature guest welcome for all our future guests. Theresa Culletto is inspiring and she has worked so hard to create this gem and all those farmer's markets she has immense lifetime experience with the recipes she has created.
Quarto Publishing keeps publishing and putting out these great books and has the eye for finding this immense talent and Theresa Culletto is definitely one of them!
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher Quarto Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review Beautiful Bread by Theresa Culletto.
Like half the world, I got really into making bread when the world shut down a few years ago. Now I am three years deep in my hobby and still going strong. I am always looking for new fun recipes to keep things exciting and this book really touched on everything I look out for.
First of all, as someone who loves to see finished product pictures so that I know exactly what I have seemed to do WRONG with mine...ha... and the pictures in this book are absolutely beautiful.
The instructions seem easy to follow and the recipes give lots of details and direction to make sure everything comes out correctly. Seems to be a great guide for all skill levels.
Definitely going to be trying out the Thanksgiving Cornucopia in a few months for our family and friends to (hopefully) fall in love with as well. And that Cinnamon Star looks to die for!!
This is a lovely guide to how to create beautiful loaves of focaccia. It is broken down into four types of focaccia and details the best combination of veggies and fruits to decorate each focaccia beautifully. It's a lovely and useful guide to creating focaccia.
Thanks to this book now I know that pieces of art can be edible.
I love that it has easier option to decorate the bread so I won't necessarily need a lot of ingredients to make my bread look beautiful.
I really liked that if there ia someone in your family that doesn't eat a type of vegetable, because of the picture you could find aomething similar to replace it with.
The bread in this book was beautiful and has inspired me to dive into the art work that truly is bread making. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.
Beautiful Bread is exactly they. I have never felt so inspired to create loaves that are a thing of beauty. The ideas and creativity is hands down the best I’ve seen and the bread is definitely a show stopper almost too pretty to eat. Also it’s a wonderful idea for serving to guests who will marvel at the simplicity and beauty the bread adds to the table. I definitely highly recommend it!
Gorgeous photos and delicious recipes. I learned so much from this book. I especially enjoyed the way it provided a small amount of base recipes to master, then provided numerous ways to expand on these key recipes and primary skills.
All things bread, this book is a wonderfully illustrated book with a lot of fun recipes for bread that make me excited to eat and try them for myself.
The gorgeous images in this book inspire the imagination. The recipes are easy to follow and the results are almost too pretty to eat. Almost.
I'd recommend this book to those who lobe baking bread and crafts in general, and the recipes serves a dual purpose. Bake delicious breads and focaccias and decorate them with fresh veggies. It's a craft you can eat!
This is a beautiful book with beautiful pictures. The recipes are fairly simple to do too for a beginner.
Absolutely stunning and hugely impressive baking made accessible for all levels of skills. It looks intimidating but the instructions are clear and guidance supportive.
If you've ever seen beautifully decorated bread on social media, you've probably thought that looks difficult to achieve. Theresa Culletto makes bread decorating achievable. Follow her simple focaccia recipes and assemble some vegetables and you'll soon create something worth sharing and eating.