Book Review: Great Whole Grain Breads by Beatrice Ojakangas

For an excellent cookbook on how to bake scones, corn bread, croissants, pretzels, popovers, quick breads, tortillas, pizza dough or traditional loaves, then this may be the book for you! With more than 250 recipes for both sweet and savory breads, check out this book.

Beatrice Ojakangas is a chef and author to numerous cookbooks. Some titles include: "The Great Scandinavian Baking Book", "Scandinavian Feasts: Celebrating Traditions throughout the Year" and "The Great Holiday Baking Book". She has also appeared on television with Julia Child, on her television show: "Baking with Julia Child", as well as also being on Martha Stewart's Living. She has written numerous articles for newspapers and magazines including Cooking Light, Family Circle, and Bon Appetit. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

The recipes in this book are easy-to-follow. Ojakangas gives excellent step-by-step tips on how to mix and knead the dough and how to handle whole grains. In the introduction, there are numerous tips to help the novice cook develop a passion for baking breads. There is even a section on Flour sources, in case you are unable to locate a specific flour in your neighborhood.

The book is broken down in chapters depending on the type of breads you are looking for, including: stir-and-pour breads, no-knead casserole breads, whole wheat breads, rye breads, oat breads, barley breads, cornbreads, multiple grain breads, buckwheat breads, triticale breads, sourdough breads, coffee breads and sweet rolls, whole grain breads with fruit, whole grain breads with vegetables, cheese breads, little breads, flatbreads, quick breads and more!

Despite no color photographs in this book, there are some illustrations to help show you what to do.

The recipes all sound delicious, and my favorites are: apple-filled brioche, seven-grain bread, malted Christmas bread, English farmhouse loaf and orange-rye casserole bread.

If you are looking for an all-purpose book on baking any type of bread, then I suggest you pick this book.

"Great Whole Grain Breads"
Beatrice Ojakangas
University of Minnesota Press; 1st University of Minnesota Press ed edition (September 1, 2002)
Paperback: 368 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.82 x 9.10 x 6.52
ISBN: 0816641501

For More Information
Breads
Bread Machine Month
SuiteU Course: Introduction to Quick Breads

Jennifer A. Wickes is a freelance food writer, researcher and cookbook reviewer. She has written several eBooks, and has had numerous articles and recipes in printed publications, as well as on-line. She is working on her first cookbook. For more information about Jennifer or her work, please visit her home page: http://home.comcast.net/~culinaryjen/Bio...