So, I've decided that every Tuesday I am going to bake bread. I decided to make a blog a bit too late, so I've already made dutch oven bread, challah, foccacia, bao buns, angel food cake....and attempted a baguette. The end result wasn't awful--the loaves tasted incredible and the crispy texture on the outside and light, airy texture on the inside was right on. But, they resembled blobs more than baguettes! I mean, baguettes don't exactly come in a variety of shapes. So, I was determined to try again.
Which brings us to tonight. I'm writing this just after finishing the poolish aka the starter. This is step one of what I think I screwed up on my first attempt. The recipe that I used (https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-baguettes-recipe) called for a starter made and left to rest for 14+ hours. Well! I had decided to make my loaves of bread on Tuesdays, not Monday into Tuesday, or Tuesday into Wednesday.
This is when I got cocky. I decided that making the starter in the morning, leaving it to rest for about 6 hours, and then finishing up the dough would work just fine. But, I point you back towards the blobs. So, it is Monday night as I write this, and I have just made the starter. I am going to leave this to rest overnight, for 14 hours. It is currently 10 PM and I have an hour long work meeting tomorrow at 11 AM so I figure that right around noon I'll be good to go! And, if I want to wait an extra few hours, it can only help!
Here is what goes into the starter:
After my work meeting, I come back downstairs to start the dough. I mix the wet ingredients together:
Which brings us to tonight. I'm writing this just after finishing the poolish aka the starter. This is step one of what I think I screwed up on my first attempt. The recipe that I used (https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-baguettes-recipe) called for a starter made and left to rest for 14+ hours. Well! I had decided to make my loaves of bread on Tuesdays, not Monday into Tuesday, or Tuesday into Wednesday.
This is when I got cocky. I decided that making the starter in the morning, leaving it to rest for about 6 hours, and then finishing up the dough would work just fine. But, I point you back towards the blobs. So, it is Monday night as I write this, and I have just made the starter. I am going to leave this to rest overnight, for 14 hours. It is currently 10 PM and I have an hour long work meeting tomorrow at 11 AM so I figure that right around noon I'll be good to go! And, if I want to wait an extra few hours, it can only help!
Here is what goes into the starter:
1/2 cup cool water
1/16 tsp yeast
1 cup flour
The cool water makes me suspicious, as I know that yeast thrives in lukewarm conditions, but it's a King Arthur recipe, so I go by the rules. The 1/16 tsp throws me off a little. What is this? A pinch? Is it something I actually have to measure? I am suspicious again, and make it more like 1/8 of a tsp and throw in a pinch of sugar for the yeast to feed on. It can't hurt, right? Maybe I'll be eating my words later, but for now, that seems like a good idea. I mix it up gently, cover it with a dampened cloth and set it aside. See you in 14 hours!
It is Tuesday morning and I just checked on the starter. It's beautiful! Last time I made the starter it ended up like a very dried out dough, but this time it is bubbly, airy and expanded!
After my work meeting, I come back downstairs to start the dough. I mix the wet ingredients together:
1 cup + 2 tbsp lukewarm water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
The recipe doesn't say to let the yeast sit to bloom, but I do anyway, and add a bit of sugar too, because it seemed to help my starter. Once I see some good growth from the yeast, I move on to add my other ingredients.
I add in the dry ingredients and the starter:
3 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp salt
all of the starter
I add the flour in first with the salt on top because I've heard that salt kills yeast. I'm not sure how true this is, but today I'm taking extra good care of my yeast. I'm not looking to attempt a baguette for a third time. I mixed the dough up until it was as smooth as I could get it--it took some hands on kneading in the bowl.
I cover up my bowl with a dampened towel and set the dough aside for 45 minutes to rise. After 45 minutes, I uncover the dough and worked the edges of the dough in towards the center with a plastic spatula. I just gently try to deflate the dough and get out any major air bubbles. I don't want to deflate it too much though, because though air bubbles are a classic part of the inside of a baguette, so I just try to make sure there isn't an excess of air while still keeping the dough light and airy. Then, I set the dough aside to rest for another 45 minutes.
After the second 45 minute rest, I uncover the dough. I put it onto a lightly greased surface and gently deflate it again. I divide the dough into 3 equal pieces because the recipe says that it makes 3 baguettes. Last time making this recipe, I got skeptical of my first baguette so I combined the second two pieces of dough together and that one turned into quite the blob. Even if it doesn't work out perfectly, this time I will definitely be abiding by the 3 baguettes instruction.
I round each piece into a ball, and then set them aside on a baking tray. I then cover them with greased plastic wrap. Have you ever tried to grease plastic wrap? It's very hard! But, I didn't do it last time and the dough stuck all over the plastic wrap, so I made the effort to grease it this time. We love learning from our mistakes. I set this aside to rise for 20 minutes.
Near the end of the rising time, you are supposed to preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a cast iron skillet inside. You're then supposed to boil water on the stove top and put that boiling water in the skillet as you put the bread inside to bake.
Well, I don't have a cast iron skillet so I have to be crafty. Last time I made this recipe I put a pot of boiling water inside the oven, and suddenly everything smelled like burning plastic. No wonder, the pot's handles are plastic. Not a great move in a 450 degree oven!
So, today, I am going to sort of combine my idea for last time with my experience making dutch oven bread. As the baguettes finish up rising, and the oven is preheating, I am boiling some water in my dutch oven. When I put the baguettes into the oven, I'll pop the dutch oven in there too. Hopefully this works better than burning plastic! I'm setting a low bar there! Once the oven has preheated, I slash the loaves to create those classic baguette marks (the same way that I cut up the biscotti dough--https://quarantinecookbook.blogspot.com/2020/04/biscotti.html).
After the second 45 minute rest, I uncover the dough. I put it onto a lightly greased surface and gently deflate it again. I divide the dough into 3 equal pieces because the recipe says that it makes 3 baguettes. Last time making this recipe, I got skeptical of my first baguette so I combined the second two pieces of dough together and that one turned into quite the blob. Even if it doesn't work out perfectly, this time I will definitely be abiding by the 3 baguettes instruction.
I round each piece into a ball, and then set them aside on a baking tray. I then cover them with greased plastic wrap. Have you ever tried to grease plastic wrap? It's very hard! But, I didn't do it last time and the dough stuck all over the plastic wrap, so I made the effort to grease it this time. We love learning from our mistakes. I set this aside to rise for 20 minutes.
After I let them rise for 20 minutes, I work with one piece at a time. I gently flatten it, then fold it in half. I flip it over (not moving from horizontal to vertical or vice versa, but from one side of horizontal to the other--does this make sense? Last time, I thought I was supposed to move from horizontal to vertical and it did not go well) and flatten it, then fold it in half again.
I keep doing this until the dough is long and shaped like a baguette. Then, I place the baguette shaped dough onto a lightly greased baking pan and cover it with lightly greased plastic wrap. I continue to do this process with all of the pieces, and then let them all rest for 45 minutes.
Near the end of the rising time, you are supposed to preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a cast iron skillet inside. You're then supposed to boil water on the stove top and put that boiling water in the skillet as you put the bread inside to bake.
Well, I don't have a cast iron skillet so I have to be crafty. Last time I made this recipe I put a pot of boiling water inside the oven, and suddenly everything smelled like burning plastic. No wonder, the pot's handles are plastic. Not a great move in a 450 degree oven!
So, today, I am going to sort of combine my idea for last time with my experience making dutch oven bread. As the baguettes finish up rising, and the oven is preheating, I am boiling some water in my dutch oven. When I put the baguettes into the oven, I'll pop the dutch oven in there too. Hopefully this works better than burning plastic! I'm setting a low bar there! Once the oven has preheated, I slash the loaves to create those classic baguette marks (the same way that I cut up the biscotti dough--https://quarantinecookbook.blogspot.com/2020/04/biscotti.html).
I pop the loaves into the oven on the second rack with the dutch oven on the bottom rack, letting that steam rise up and help those loaves bake so they're nice and crusty. I leave the loaves in the oven for about 25 minutes. Upon taking them out, I could not be happier. The loaves are beautiful and actually look like baguettes--not blobs! I only have a picture of two of the three loaves, because we devoured the first one so quickly.
I am so glad that I attempted this recipe again. Last time, the taste and flavor was there, but this time everything about the texture and shape was there too. These are absolutely delicious, and while they take a lot of time and attentiveness, I think that they're absolutely worth the make.
Bonus points if you eat it with homemade butter (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/234299/how-to-make-homemade-butter/ -- all you need is heavy cream, a jar and some time!).
Comments
Post a Comment