The chocolate babka sold at Breads Bakery was voted the best in New York City. I can’t vouch for that – I haven’t tried every sweet yeast cake in Manhattan – but it is by far the best babka I’ve ever tasted, including my own.
So I was excited to learn that the Breads Bakery founder, Uri Scheft, was publishing his first cookbook – on breads, naturally.
In the introduction Scheft writes, “My first love was bread. Or more specifically, the
smell of bread. The smell of bread baking in the oven, the promise of its warmth, its sweetness, its supple crumb that contrasts to the browned, sometimes shiny-tender, sometimes rough and sharp-edged crust. My mother baked often – not every day, but enough for me to connect the smell of baking bread with a feeling of pure happiness. The idea of this beautiful and nourishing loaf made by hand and bringing people together around a table or even gathered around at a kitchen counter to rip off a piece and eat it with such great enjoyment – to me, this is true love. And so it has become my life’s work to re-create this feeling of anticipation and pleasure with every loaf and pastry I bake and sell in my bakeries – and this is the essence of
Breaking Breads.”
