Okay okay… if you’ve been getting your Home Baker’s Bulletin in the lead up to the release of Bread Everyday then these behind the scenes facts might not have been so secret, nevertheless I hope you enjoy this little trip behind the curtain.
Here’s 13 things you may not have known about Bread Every Day:
1. The Cover Shot
The cover shot was taken against my blue wall here at BWJ Studio, painted in the EXACT same colours of my old “studio” (my kitchen wall). It was the morning of the first photoshoot and I’d been up baking bread since 4am. I grabbed some of the bread I’d made and we took the shot just to try out the idea. Everybody liked it so much that it became the final cover shot of the book. Nailed it!
2. Picture Perfect
I feel like I can ALWAYS tell when a photo is of OLD bread. That’s why I baked nearly every single bread you see in the book super early in the morning before each photo shoot day or “live” as the shoot was rolling!
3. More than JUST bread
This book is WAY MORE than just bread alone… it’s things to do with it, things to EAT with it, things to dip it in, and things to MAKE with it to use up every single crumb.
4. A Hefty Upgrade
We had to make the book LONGER… That’s right, initially the book was supposed to be 224 pages long BUT we got SO CARRIED AWAY the publisher upped the page count to a MASSIVE 288 to fit eveything in making for a nice hefty final book.
5. THREE years in the making
I started writing a book sitting IN MY GARDEN on Instagram stories (remember?), writing ideas on a clipboard with the pencil behind my ear on July 24th 2019. 11 months later, the publishers called, and over the next 18 months that book became… Bread Every Day. In fact, those original sketches made it into the books end pages :-)
6. Long Live The Nug
On shoot days I baked a teeny tiny piece of dough soon to be named "the nug". We hid him around the studio for each of use to find. Eventually evolving a hand drawn smiley face, little Nug provided us with HOURS of entertainment. Now, he lives forever, pride of place, mounted on a plaque on the studio wall of fame.
7. In good company
Bread Everyday is published by Ebury Press, publisher of choice for none other than Yotam Ottolenghi, River Café, Janes Patisserie, Charlie Mackesy, Rick Stein, Mary Berry, Melissa Hemsley and many more.
8. Easter Eggs (not literally)
Those of you treasure hunters with a keen eye will find PLENTY of sneaky extra ideas and things to try above and beyond the recipes and tips, hiding throughout the book.
9. Tons of Snaps
All the photos in the book took seven long days and six people to shoot. We took them all right here in BWJ Studio and I baked every single one of the breads myself packing a MASSIVE 316 photos in the final book!
10. Get ready!
If you made EVERY bread in the book one after the other it would take 11 days 9 hours and 45 minutes (without sleep) and you’ll need 15,525g of flour plus extra for dusting!
11. Heather
I KNOW your Home Bakers Bulletin is often peppered with small grammatical errors and spelling mistakes (I put them there on purpose because I know you enjoy finding them!) Nevertheless, Bread Everyday was checked by no less than THREE copy editors and spell checkers to make sure it is SPOT ON, so that what makes sense in my head, makes sense to you the reader in the clearest way possible.
12. A Learning Journey
Bread Everyday is not JUST a collection of tasty recipes. It is a true EDUCATION in bread. Ever single recipe has been chosen to demonstrate a unique PRINCIPLE to help you BUILD your knowledge so you crack out amazing bread at home with SUCCESS for LIFE.
13. A little extra from me
Writing this book has been a real journey. Not only is it a collection of recipes created and practiced over the past 9 years of Bake with Jack but it is peppered with personal stories and little anecdotes from me. I hope you love it as much as I do.