traditional, crusty, and hearth-baked breads prepared fresh every day

PAINS AU LEVAIN FRENCH BREAD Wild Yeast Starter Breads is signature bread of the Continental Bakery Wild Yeast Sourdough (Pain de Campagne) has been one of our specialties since 1984. A bit Our wild yeast sourdough is a true Birmingham more substantial than the modern Parisian original. Leavened with wild spores captured from baguette, it has a creamy, more avorful crumb the Red Mountain neighboorhood in which it is and a chewy crust. We use old world techniques produced, this loaf acquires its particular character like longer, cooler fermentation and hand shaping from the local environment, much like regional to preserve the color, depth of avor, and aroma wines reect terroir. is wild yeast culture (levain) of our spring heritage wheat our. Our French has been lovingly tended for over 25 years. Bread is available in Baguette, Peasant Loaf, Boule, Sandwich Loaf, or Epi. e baking process happens over a 48 hour period, French Feta & Kalamata Olive Baguette in which the levain is built into a complex dough French feta cheese, fresh oregano, garlic, cracked featuring a blend of whole wheat and white black pepper and Kalamata olives rolled into our unbleached unbromated ours of the middle ages. French bread baguette. It undergoes a long, cool rise and is nally baked directly on the oor of a stone hearth oven. is Tomato, Basil, and Brie Baguette gorgeous loaf with the blistered and slashed crust, Triple cream Brie cheese, fresh tomatoes, garlic, originally inspired by the breads of the famous and basil in a baguette. Parisian baker, Lionel Poilane, is available in the Kalamata or Green Olive Boules traditional two kilo loaf of the French countryside, Kalamata or green olives folded into our but we happily cut any whole loaf into halves or French boule. quarters on request. TRADITIONAL YEASTED BREADS White Wild Yeast Sourdough Butter ake Rolls Also made with a wild yeast starter, given a long slow cool rise and baked on a stone hearth. A traditional southern favorite, rst introduced However, this bread is made without the addition to us by Robert Pickens, a baker from the old of whole wheat our. Waite’s Bakery. is yeast roll dough is also used to make our Hot Dog Buns, Hamburger Buns, Italian Ciabatta and Hoagie Rolls. is bread is made with an Italian style biga Whole Wheat Sandwich starter, and has an airy, open crumb with a delicate Our 100% whole wheat sandwich bread is hearty, crackly crust. substantial and makes a great piece of toast. Old-fashioned White Sandwich We use unbleached, unbromated our, whole milk, and unsalted butter, for an updated version of this delicious classic. SPECIALTY BREADS BREAD EDUCATION Focaccia What is a natural sourdough? Traditional Genoan atbread, topped with extra Our sourdough breads do not rely on commercial virgin olive oil, fresh garlic and herbs. Most often yeast for leavening. e leavening agent for the you will see it in a round topped with either sourdough bread at Continental Bakery is a wild rosemary or tomato and pesto. yeast "starter", created from the fermentation of Irish Soda Bread grain (wheat) in water, much like the process used A traditional Irish bread that relies on soda for in wine and beer-making. Our starter was created leavening rather than yeast, making it popular for and has been nurtured over decades. those on a yeast free diet. is starter is actually used to raise the bread. is Jewish Style Sour Rye means that the starter (or sour) is not simply a A deli style rye, made with an onion & caraway avoring agent, as in San Francisco type natural starter. sourdoughs. As a result, our sourdoughs don’t have Challah the overwhelming sour tang of these breads. We Rabbi Scott’s mother-in-law’s recipe. Sweet, egg-rich, prefer a bread in the French tradition, with a more festive bread, originally baked by Jewish families to subtle acidity and deeper range and complexity of grace the Sabbath or holiday table. avors, allowing the true character of the grain to Olive Sourdough shine through. We pit imported black and green queen colossal True French breads. olives and fold them into the white wild yeast sourdough. We love it paired with cheese and a e government of France dictates by law which bottle of dry red wine. breads may be called “French bread.” Only 4 ingredients may be used to make French bread: Pain aux Noix (Walnut Bread) our, water, salt and yeast. True French bread Walnut breads are traditional complements to cannot contain any sugar, fat, or other dough cheeses and served to clear the palate for wine “enhancers" or conditioners. Our Wild Yeast tasting. Ours includes both whole and ground Sourdoughs, Ciabatta, French Baguette, French roasted walnuts fully infusing the bread with a rich Boule, French Peasant, Pan Bagna Buns and French walnut avor and a gorgeous violet hue. On some Roll all satisfy these requirements and are therefore days, we add Gorgonzola for a special treat. true French breads. ey are therefore naturally fat Pecan Raisin Bread free and vegan. A levain based bread full of raisins and pecans. is Caring for your artisinal sourdough bread. bread feels Old World, t for King Louis himself. Our Wheatberry Sunower, Pecan Raisin, Pain aux Spent Grain Breads Noix (walnut), 4-Seed, Rye and Wild Yeast Spent grain is the mash left after the sugars have Sourdoughs will remain fresh tasting for at least four been removed from the grains during the beer days. is is because they do not suer from the brewing process. e result is a product with a drying qualities of commercial yeast. ey also higher ber and protein content and lower sugar or benet from the natural preserving qualities of the carbohydrate content. All of our spent grains come fermentation process. Our French Baguette, French from our friends at Good People Brewery. We use Boule and French Roll stale more quickly, and so we this spent grain in several varieties of our sandwich recommend that you enjoy them the day you breads, pizza dough, hoagies, hamburger buns, and purchase them. our spent grain crackers. e lamb sausage sandwich from Chez Lulu showcases our spent grain hoagie. WE MAKE THESE BREADS We also sometimes make foccacia with this grain. FRESH EVERY DAY: Wheatberry Sun ower Bread Wild Yeast Sourdough Cracked kernels of wheat and sunower seeds in a White Sourdough sourdough based bread. French Four Seeded Bread Whole Wheat Sandwich Equal amounts of golden ax seeds, toasted sesame White Sandwich seeds, toasted sunower seeds and poppy seeds are 4-seeded Sandwich added to a natural levain to create a delicious sandwich loaf. Other breads on our menu can be ordered with 48 hours notice as a minimum order of two. BREAKFAST PASTRIES Brioche Croissants When Marie Antoinette made her famous cry We start with detrempe—a rich dough of our, about letting the peasants eat, she was referring to sugar, butter, milk, salt, and yeast—and brioche. Our buttery pastry is rich enough for a beurrage—butter folded within the dough. We queen and is made with or without Belgian then roll and fold until there are over  layers of chocolate. dough and butter. After allowing these layers to Pain au Raisin (Custard Buns) develop for at least , and up to  hours, they A traditional French breakfast pastry akin to the become the akiest, most delicious buttery pastry croissant. It’s rolled with custard and raisins and this side of the Atlantic. Each croissant is made by baked til golden brown. served on weekends only hand. We ll them with the following variety of Baked French Breakfast Donut avors: Almond, Apricot Pecan, Belgian is is a baked cake donut that, when pulled from Chocolate, Butter, Cinnamon Sugar, Ham & the oven, is immediately dipped in butter and Jarlsberg Cheese, Raspberry with Cream Cheese, cinnamon sugar. Strawberry with Cream Cheese, and Nutella. Biscuit au Fromage Raspberry Almond Danish Our delightfully uy biscuits are available in two Our Danish is made with our croissant dough, sizes and made with either feta or cheddar cheese. lled with almond frangipane and raspberry jam, Cinnamon Roll and topped with a real vanilla glaze. is pastry is made with our croissant dough and Scones cinnamon sugar. is Scottish quick bread is said to have taken its Morning Bun name from the Stone of Destiny (or Scone), the e Morning Bun is our croissant dough rolled place where Scottish kings were once crowned. e and baked with demerara sugar, cinnamon, and original triangular-shaped scone was made with orange zest. oats and griddle baked. Today’s versions are more Old Fashioned often our-based and baked in the oven. All of We use our butter ake roll dough to create this our scones are oven baked, and most are sticky, sweet cinnamony treat. our-based, except our oat-based apple cinnamon. Flavors for our scones include: Apple Cinnamon; PIES AND TARTES Cherry Almond; Lemon Poppyseed; Orange Baked with a delicious, aky handmade butter Cranberry; Ham, Swiss, and Scallion; and Ham, crust and seasonal llings. Ask us about our Bacon, and Jalapeño. current selection. Mu ns & Tea Loves CAKES AND CUPCAKES We pack these breads full of nuts, spices and fruits. Flavors are rotated to ensure perfect pairing with Our Carrot Cake with cream cheese icing is a the current season. Varieties you can expect to nd long-time favorite, as is out Belgian Chocolate are Banana Nut, Date Nut (available as a tea loaf Almond Torte. But ask about our current selection only), Cranberry Nut, Lemon Blueberry, Pumpkin of cakes to see what’s new. Ginger, and Bran (available as a mun only). COOKIES AND Bagels SPECIALITY DESSERTS Hand rolled bagels taste better. We also use the traditional method of kettle boiling rather than We oer seasonally decorated shortbread, oven-steaming this low fat, chewy bread. Try them chocolate dipped, and thumbprints, as well as with our Cream Cheese and Olive spread, chocolate chip cookies, trues, and brownies all housemade jam, cream cheese, or butter. made with Belgian chocolate. Other favorites Varieties of bagels include Everything, Cinnamon include the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, Sweedish Raisin, Blueberry, Garlic, Plain, Poppyseed, Sea Gingersnap, French Love, and French Macaron, Salt, Sesame Seed, Wheat, and Sweet Potato. with seasonally unique avors and llings. Almond Biscotti Ask for our current selection of desserts—we are always baking us something new and delicious! Biscotti is baked twice to make for the crunchiest treat—best for dipping in a delicious beverage. We make ours with our without Belgian chocolate.