Today we're baking baguettes. If you've been waiting for the right week to try them, this is it. Here's how the working thread runs: drop in throughout the day, share where you are in the process, post photos, ask questions as they come up. I'll be in and out answering. The whole point is that nobody bakes alone today. A few things to keep in mind before you start: Hydration matters. Baguette dough is wetter than a sandwich loaf and that's on purpose. Don't fight it with extra flour. Trust the folds. Shape with intention. The pre-shape sets up the final shape. Rushing the pre-shape is the number one reason baguettes come out lumpy or uneven. Score with confidence. One quick motion, blade angled almost flat to the dough. Hesitation gives you a torn loaf instead of a clean ear. Steam is non-negotiable. Whatever method you use, get steam in that oven for the first 10 minutes. No steam, no crust, no shine. If you need the recipe, here it is: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/ Drop your starting time below so we can see who's mixing when. Photos welcome at every stage. Floury counters, ugly pre-shapes, perfect oven spring, all of it. Let's bake. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

We've got two Easter Bunny bakes on the table and you pick the one that fits where you are right now. 🌷 Option 1 is the Easter Bunny Bread. 🐇 Soft, enriched dough with milk, butter, and eggs. You can bake it as one big centerpiece loaf or divide it into 8 individual bunny rolls. There's a yeasted version and a sourdough version in the pantry, so pick your path. 🥚 This one is accessible, festive, and your family is going to love it. Option 2 is the Sculpted Easter Bunny Bread. 🐰 This is the one I let slip earlier when I was in the middle of building it. Lean 65% hydration dough, Dutch oven bake, cold overnight proof. One boule. Every piece of the bunny comes from that single loaf. 🌸 It's more of a project and the shaping takes confidence, but the result is something else. Both recipes are in the pantry right now 👇 🐇 Enriched Easter Bunny (yeasted + sourdough): https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/easter-bunny-bread 🐰 Sculpted Easter Bunny Bread: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/sculpted-easter-bunny-bread Drop below which one you're doing Saturday. 🥚 I'll be in the thread all day. Perfection is not required. Progress is. 🌷 Take a look at all three Henry ⭐🔥

OK, bought at Lidl, £1.99 (less 20% after 19:00). My thoughts were, the flavour of mine was very similar, although I could taste more than a hint of malt. My starter was purchased as a San Francisco Sourdough so that shouldn't be too surprising although I thought it would have gone native by now. The oven spring was so much better, and the crust was crisp and crunchy, mine tends to be too soft, although the colour is good. The crumb was much more open, I know I under proofed the last one, usually it's more open. My conclusion is to pay more attention to the proofing time in the banneton, and use less steam for less time in the oven. Happy baking all.

Your Recipe Pantry just got a major upgrade. The Baker's Log is live — and it's built for the way we actually bake. You've heard me say it: the best bakers aren't the ones who follow the best recipes. They're the ones who pay attention. The Baker's Log is how you start paying attention on paper. Here's what it does. You open it from the top of the Recipe Pantry, and it walks you through your entire bake — start to finish: - Your starter and leaven details - Every ingredient with baker's percentages calculated for you - A Final Dough Temperature calculator so you're not guessing on water temp - Timed tracking for every step — autolyse, salt, bulk rise, each stretch and fold, shaping, cold retard, and bake - A score section at the end where you rate your crust, crumb, and flavor on a 1-5 scale - A reflection section: what worked, what you'd change That last part is the whole point. When your next loaf comes out better, you'll know exactly why. This isn't about being perfect. It's about building a record of your process so you can see yourself improving over time. Every bake teaches you something — but only if you write it down. I made a quick video walkthrough showing you exactly what it looks like and how to use it. Watch that, then go try it on your next bake. Baker's Log: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/bake-log You don't need to fill out every field. Start with the basics — recipe name, your times, and the score at the end. You can get more detailed as you go. Who's logging their next bake? P.S. — This one came from @Candi Brown-McGriff. She shared the baking forms she uses to track her bakes, and suggested we build something like that into the Recipe Pantry. So we did. That's how this works. If you see something that could make one of our tools better, bring it to me. This community builds together.

Week 1 you learned what leavening actually does. Week 2 you baked Market Day White and got your hands in real dough. Now it's time for the big one. Henry's Foolproof Sourdough Loaf. I built this recipe to forgive you while you learn. The hydration is forgiving. The timeline is forgiving. The shaping is forgiving. You just have to show up and trust the process. Here's your recipe: https://zgxxhqbickrlqkwmkfni.supabase.co/functions/v1/recipe-og?slug=foolproof-sourdough-loaf And don't forget — the Wire Monkey giveaway runs through Sunday. Post your scored loaf this week and you're entered to win one of two handcrafted bread lames. Perfection not required. Just bake. — Henry ⭐🔥