The Modern Baker Challenge

The Modern Baker Challenge November 12, 2010

This is the home page for the Modern Baker Challenge, a group dedicated to the daunting task of baking every recipe in The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri. That’s nearly 150 recipes.

The Challenge group is forming now, and we plan to start baking around the beginning of April. That will give people time to get the book and start reading the introductory chapters.

Check out the About link at the top of the page for more information and a link to the Google group.

Some people (me included) plan to blog about their adventures. Others are just going to bake along. Feel free to join in anytime.

It’s Like Buttah — A Little Shameless Self-Promotion August 2, 2010

I’m connected to many of you on other groups, so some of you may have seen this already. I recently came up with a recipe for cultured butter that is receiving rave reiews. It’s really easy to make, and it tastes great on fresh bread.

Here’s the link to the recipe on my blog: http://gaaarp.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/recipe-cultured-butter/

Perfect Birthday Cake Preview July 31, 2010

My 13-year-old made Nick’s Perfect Birtday Cake for me for my birthday this year. It was, indeed, perfect.

http://gaaarp.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/perfect-birthday-perfect-birthday-cake/

Nick Malgieri — Coming Soon to a Kitchen Near You? June 21, 2010

I just found out that Nick is coming to the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson, Ohio, in October. Check his website to see when and where he will be teaching. He mostly has New York dates right now, but check back periodically to see if he’s coming to a cooking school near you.

For Those About to Blog, We Salute You March 27, 2010

It’s almost here. The official kick off date for The Modern Baker Challenge is next Thursday, April 1! I guess I should start reading the book, huh?

I have been thinking that, while I plan on baking every recipe in the book, I don’t want the (admittedly self-imposed) pressure of feeling like I have to blog about all of them. When I participated in the BBA Challenge, I blogged about most of the recipes, but I enjoyed baking most when I didn’t pressure myself into feeling like I had to take pictures and try to recall the whole experience, sometimes weeks or a month later.

So, I’ve come up with yet another crazy idea: participatory group blogging. Here’s how it would work. As we approach each section of the book, I’ll post a call to arms, and anyone who wants to can claim one or more recipes for that section. Whoever “claims” the recipe will be the official blogger, and that person’s blog will be featured here. Anyone else who wants to can still post links to their own blogs, but I’d like to have one post for each recipe on this site.

So, what do you think? Is it a crazy enough idea that it just might work?

More to the point, which recipes do you want to claim? Click on the “Quick Bread” link above to pick the recipes in the first section that you’d like to blog about.