Tag Archives: 2013

In 2012 I challenged myself to improve my bread-making skills.  While I did most of my baking in the first half of the year, I really enjoyed the challenge and feel like I learned a lot.  Specifically, I learned what adjustments I need to make to account for my altitude, and I feel more confident kneading and handling the dough.  I no longer feel intimidated by the idea of making bread and am ready to try branching out a bit.

For my 2013 challenge, I want to do something a little different.   For Christmas I received Thomas Keller’s new cookbook, Bouchon Bakery, co-written with Sebastien Rouxel.  It is a gorgeous book with so many wonderful-looking recipes.  Many of the recipes look fairly straight-forward, but there are also a lot that look time-consuming and challenging.  They all look delicious!

This is the type of book that I might enjoy looking at and dream of using, but potentially not get around to making many of the recipes.  To ensure I actually use this beautiful book, my challenge for 2013 is to make one recipe from Bouchon Bakery per month for the entire year.

There are 1o chapters in the book that contain recipes:

• Cookies
• Scones & Muffins
• Cakes
• Tarts
• Pate A Choux
• Brioche & Doughnuts
• Puff Pastry & Croissants
• Breads
• Confections
• Basics

I will make sure to hit each chapter at least once during the year.

Do you have a copy of Bouchon Bakery?  Would you like to join me in this challenge?  I will share my results the last Tuesday of each month, and will announce the following month’s recipe at the same time.  Feel free to join in and share your results each month!

For January 2013:  I decided to keep it simple this month and will be making Banana Muffins (pg. 81).  I will post my results on January 29!