My first real breakthrough with sourdough baking occurred after reading the cookbook titled, Whole Grain Sourdough at Home by Elaine Boddy. I had just started creating my own starter and was beginning to bake sourdough bread when my son Devin gave me this cookbook as a gift. I immediately appreciated the clean readable format and wonderful photographs of professional-looking sourdough bread. As I browsed the photos, my thoughts ruminated. If only – if only – I could bake sourdough bread that looked this beautiful!

I have since tried many of the recipes in Whole Grain Sourdough at Home and they are outstanding. It’s the perfect beginner’s book. Recently I made her recipe, The Light Rye Master (page 57) and as with many of her recipes, this rye bread was fun to make and relatively easy. The details and flow of Elaine’s methods –the autolyse process, pulling, folding dough, and hours of fermentation time is a journey into magic. The bread’s final star-burst of golden color, the crustiness, and tangy soft interior make incredible sourdough bread.

It truly is possible to make sourdough as beautiful as the photographs in her book.

Elaine’s second book, The Sourdough Whisperer: The Secrets to No-Fail Baking with Epic Results is set to be released on February 15, 2022.

I can’t wait to pick up a copy! — Carole