From award-winning baker, Dan Lepard,  The Handmade Loaf  is the authoritative guide to baking that every baker needs in their kitchen. With more than 75 recipes, from dark crisp rye breads and ricotta breadsticks through to effortless multigrain sourdough, T he Handmade Loaf  guides you through the stress-free techniques you need to make and bake great breads at home. Made and photographed in kitchens and bakeries across Europe, from Russia through to the Scottish Highlands, Dan Lepard's ground-breaking methods show you how to get the most flavor and the best texture from sourdough and simple yeast breads with minimal kneading and gentle handling of the dough. Let this classic cookbook guide you to making superb bread at home. Contents include: - Ingredients - Mixing, shaping & baking - The natural leaven - From water to wine - From field to mill - Seeds and grains - Abundant harvest - Herbs, spices & fragrances - The fat of the land - The dry breads of winter - The finish “Dan Lepard is to baking what Lewis Hamilton is to Formula One.”  - Jay Rayner “Simply the most beautiful, flour-dusted, crisp-crusted, heaven-scented, honey-coloured loaf I could ever have hoped for ... Mr Lepard, I love you.”  - Nigel Slater “Dan Lepard - one of the first bakers and writers in the UK to get people interested in honing their baking skills.”  - Diana Henry