Beautiful Bread Art Uses the Crust as an Unconventional Canvas

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Baker Hannah P. of Blondie + Rye uses bread as an unconventional canvas for her art. Her appetizing loaves of sourdough, flatbreads, and filled buns are decorated with designs carved into the crust. Floral motifs and patterned swirls—sometimes coated in taro powder—come out of the oven looking almost too good to eat. But as any carb lover knows, enjoying a loaf of bread is best done while it is still warm from baking (no matter how beautiful it is).

Blondie + Rye is a side project for Hannah. By day, she’s a high school history teacher, and her profession is how she began her culinary journey. “I started baking about five years ago when my coworker gave me a Dutch oven and a simple no-knead recipe,” she tells My Modern Met. “A few months later I created my sourdough starter, Blondie, and after that, there was no looking back.”

The addition of crust art was a natural evolution for Hannah. “I can’t actually remember when the visual component took over, but I think I was drawn to the very act of creating the designs,” she recalls. “There’s sort of a rush and a danger to it because it’s so easy to have the lame (scoring tool) slip, or to misjudge the hydration of the dough.” This “danger” is part of the fun. “One would think this would make me very deliberate and keep good notes,” Hannah says, “but I also actually enjoy the irreverence of the improvisation. So I tend not to plan my doughs or designs too much.”