SLO LIFE Dec/Jan 2017

Berkeland is warm, exacting, opinionated, and tenacious, a
personality blend I also find in Mark Evans, the baker and
owner of Breaking Bread Bakery in SLO. Evans and his wife,
Glenna, opened their bustling bakery inside the County building
on Higuera Street a few years ago and have quickly earned a
following for croissants made by in-house croissant baker, Lane
Hughes. The keys, according to Evans? A light touch, experience,
and really good butter.
“We use eighty-three percent butterfat, unsalted, European-style
butter,” he says, explaining that the high fat-to-milk-solids ratio
keeps the butter from “shattering,” or “breaking,” when rolled
very thin. These details, numbers and ratios are the norm when
talking about croissant-baking; every baker I interviewed referred
to many pages of notes or complicated matrices that documented
their hard-earned pastry wisdom.
Whereas Evans is passionate and methodical, baker Lane Hughes
is quiet and more laissez-faire. I watch as he measures and cuts
squares of dough for ham and cheese croissants. (Breaking Bread
Bakery makes multiple varieties of croissants, including almond,
chocolate, jalapeño-cheddar, and a riff on traditional stollen bread
with rum-soaked raisins, candied fruit, and almonds.) “You have
to take your time and be gentle,” Hughes says, patting a croissant
as it proofs. “The layers come out better that way.”
Layers are a big deal to croissant people. As Evans slices into a plain
croissant and separates the two halves for a closer look, I’m reminded
of buttresses supporting a cathedral wall; the interior’s lacy honeycomb
appearance is a product of cold butter melting as layers of yeasted
dough rise and bake. When I taste this croissant, I’m struck by its
creamy sweetness and the crispy bite of browned skin. >>
96 | SLO LIFE Magazine | Dec/jan 2017