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28d • 🥖 Saturday Bake Along
Saturday Bake-Along Recap -- April 5, 2026
Easter and Passover Weekend -- Week 4
Sandy Chong posted a crumb shot this week. Open, airy, gorgeous. And then she cried. After a very rough few months, after nearly quitting baking, that loaf told her everything she needed to hear. That's what the Road to Sourdough has been building toward.
The Week
This wasn't a one-day bake. Easter and Passover don't fit neatly into a Saturday, so I opened the week up and gave everyone a choice: sculpt an Easter bunny, bake an enriched Easter loaf, make hot cross buns, try a babka or tsoureki, bring something to a Passover table, or bake whatever bread your family expects this time of year. The community took that wide-open invitation and ran with it.
And I need to be honest about something. I wasn't in the kitchen for most of Saturday. I was in the bleachers at my son Ryan's track meet, watching him win his 3rd tournament championship Of the season and set school records in the 100m, 200m, 4x100 relay, and javelin. Cell service was spotty, it was cold, and you all held the kitchen down without me. That's what a real community does.
committed to baking both options, called it "weekend torture," and the community loved it. She shaped her bunny, prayed for oven spring ("she's not that large"), and came back with four photos of a rabbit loaf she admitted might be dense and underproofed, but it was a rabbit and it was hers. She was still shaping mini bunnies from enriched dough when the thread wound down. 's bunny adventure started the night before when she dozed off during bulk fermentation and her husband had to remind her the dough was still going. She shaped it in the morning, cut the hind legs from the wrong direction, and ended up with what she called a "badonk-a-donk tail." Her daughter-in-law sent back a crumb shot: fluffy, soft, really good.
posted a five-photo progression of a sculpted Easter bunny sourdough made with 50% freshly milled flour. Twelve likes. That's the most-liked comment I've seen in the thread in weeks. baked hot cross buns a day early and they were beautiful. baked sourdough bunny loaves and espresso hot cross buns ahead of Saturday because she had a two-day vendor event, then showed up to the thread at 4 AM anyway. 's hot cross buns had vanilla, cinnamon oil, and an apricot-orange marmalade glaze that sounded like something you'd pay good money for. changed her mind about skipping hot cross buns and baked them anyway. 's hot cross buns were so good I told her there was no way it was her first time. She said it wasn't, but it was the best she'd ever made.
baked through tornado warnings, 60 mph winds, and power outages in Michigan. She made hot cross buns, sourdough buns, and pizza puffs. was nearby in Lansing watching flooding, but she still got her milled sourdough sandwich loaf done. 's first batch, her grandmother's potato bread, fell apart. She couldn't pulverize the potato chunks and the dough lost all structure. She went to the store, came back, and made a second batch with a laminated yeast recipe. Total success. told her "this is so rewarding.
You did more than good." Colleen called it a redemption story. It was.
posted a sourdough loaf with a crumb shot and talked about his jalapeno cheese bread. He hasn't bought bread or crackers from a store this year. He also grows his own Scorpion peppers, which he says are habaneros times a hundred. posted his organized carrot cake ingredient setup. made a cheesecake that cracked, as hers always do.
sculpted a bunny and, while the dough was bulk fermenting, also baked my lemon blueberry scones. That scone photo pulled 13 likes. baked sourdough, oatmeal raisin cookies, a sourdough chocolate cake, and did the laundry. When someone asked how, she said "because it had to have been Jesus." Sandy told her to put her feet up.
didn't have her mixer so she hand-kneaded for 30 minutes. Her hands hurt, her back hurt, and she said the bread wasn't great. But she spent the whole day with her mom talking about the process, the food, and everything she'd learned. That's a perfect day. posted a 15-second video of her delightfully wonky "funny bunny" that pulled 9 likes and a lot of laughter.
posted a bubbly levain with the spoon trick and had a windowpane breakthrough. baked from Australia on Good Friday. Her bunny looked more like a frog by the third batch, but the apricot glaze was right. used chia seeds for eyes and nose instead of a food marker and attempted her first sourdough bunny loaf.
's husband Pete didn't want a bunny, so she just baked sourdough. posted a heart GIF and said "Happy Baking everyone." focused on Passover desserts. hopes to participate next time. N P is brand new to baking and thought Susie's bread was made in an air fryer, which was a sweet moment. is new and committed to "baking up a storm next week." went for the advanced sculpted bunny. And earlier in the week, I showed everyone my own sculpted Easter bunny, complete with a flower-studded tiara.
We grew by 88 members this week. We're at 643.
Teaching Moment
nailed the windowpane test this week. She posted her bubbly levain with the spoon trick, showing the web of bubbles visible through the surface. That's the moment you know your starter is ready, and watching her catch it was a teaching moment for everyone following along.
I also want to highlight what 's failed first batch taught the group: when the recipe doesn't work, you don't quit. You go to the store, come back, and try a different approach. Batch 2 was a complete success. That's the whole lesson right there.
Giveaway Results
The Wire Monkey lame giveaway results are in. Patt Stanaway and Susie Kendall each won a handcrafted bread lame from Wire Monkey, the premier bread lame manufacturer in the world. Patt's blade kept falling off her old lame, and Susie plans to keep her starter strong so she can use the new one constantly. Well earned, both of you.
Member Spotlights
-- Sandy Chong -- Her crumb shot this week was the emotional peak of the entire Road to Sourdough. After a rough few months and nearly walking away from baking, she achieved open, airy, gorgeous results on the Foolproof Sourdough. She tagged eight community members in her thank-you and cried. Number one on the 7-day leaderboard with 1,806 points. Number one all-time with 9,551 points. Sandy just passed Colleen for the all-time lead.
-- Colleen Vergara -- Committed to baking both Easter options, shared her process honestly (including fears about her bunny's oven spring), and still found time to encourage everyone around her. Number two on the 7-day leaderboard with 1,537 points. Number two all-time with 9,493 points. The all-time race between Sandy and Colleen is now separated by just 58 points.
-- Candi Brown-McGriff -- Sourdough, oatmeal raisin cookies, sourdough chocolate cake, and laundry. All in one day. She's the kind of baker who makes everyone else think "if she can do all that, I can handle one loaf." Number three on the 7-day leaderboard with 1,337 points.
-- Patt Stanaway -- Baked through tornado warnings and power outages. Hot cross buns, sourdough buns, pizza puffs. Won the Wire Monkey lame giveaway. Michigan weather couldn't stop her.
-- Mary Nunaley -- Failed on batch one, went to the store, and came back and succeeded on batch two. That arc is what baking is about. Not getting it right the first time. Getting it right.
Full Roster
Every one of these bakers showed up this week:
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Stats
Community: 643 (up 88 from last week) Participants: 46 Photos: 40+ Interactions: 1,223+
Leaderboard Leader (7-Day): Sandy Chong (+1,806)
7-Day Top 10:
- Sandy Chong -- +1,806
- Colleen Vergara -- +1,537
- Candi Brown-McGriff -- +1,337
- Donna Angelo -- +956
- Ann Snow -- +695
- Patt Stanaway -- +673
- Linda Glantz -- +573
- Jen Dolan -- +485
- JoAnn Amato -- +394
- Angela Sides-McKay -- +272
30-Day Top 10:
- Sandy Chong -- +7,135
- Colleen Vergara -- +6,306
- Candi Brown-McGriff -- +4,430
- Donna Angelo -- +3,755
- Tracy Havlik -- +2,258
- Patt Stanaway -- +2,235
- Ann Snow -- +1,811
- Linda Glantz -- +1,635
- Jen Dolan -- +1,465
- Judy Lyle -- +1,428
All-Time Top 10:
- Sandy Chong -- 9,551
- Colleen Vergara -- 9,493
- Candi Brown-McGriff -- 7,139
- Donna Angelo -- 5,373
- Tracy Havlik -- 4,511
- Ann Snow -- 2,958
- Patt Stanaway -- 2,947
- Linda Glantz -- 2,911
- Judy Lyle -- 2,279
- Jen Dolan -- 1,583
Level Milestones:Level 1 - Guessing Baker (74%) Level 2 - Learning Baker (9%) Level 3 - Confident Home Baker (7%) Level 4 - Method-Driven Baker (3%) Level 5 - Reliable Baker (3%) Level 6 - Skilled Bread Baker (2%) Level 7 - Thoughtful Baker (1%) Level 8 - Bread Mentor (1%) Level 9 - Bread Authority (0%)
ProveWorth: 5.0Ranking: #1 Bread Baking Community.
Forty-six bakers, bunnies that looked like frogs, a crumb shot that made someone cry, and a kid who won the tournament championship. Happy Easter. Chag Sameach.
Now let's see what Week 5 brings.
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Saturday Bake-Along Recap -- April 5, 2026
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