French Baguette

French Baguette

For Blogging Marathon this week I am taking up
Taming the Yeast where we are trying our hand at yeast breads!

So this month Pradnya has suggested the French Baguette!

In her write
up on French Baguette Pradnya has said something that has cleared
my doubts about French breads here it is,”All
Baguettes are French but not all French
breads are Baguettes. So French
Baguettes are basically freshly
baked breads meant to be consumed the same day. The bread is crusty on the
outside, chewy within. The bread goes best with soups or along with an array of
fresh cheeses.”

Also “The other popular shapes are slightly
roundish like inverted bowl shape…which is crusty from outside, slightly chewy
but little soft at the centre…this is more suitable for French breads."

Coming to the recipe…a few things to
remember is the technique….to create the crust on the bread, we need to create
a vapour cloud inside the oven.”

Do I need to add something more?

Yes the first time I made these Baguettes I handled the dough gently.
Patted the seams of the folds and the result was like Pavani on whatsup said
Halloween bread... they had opened up. So the second time I checked the video
and followed that for sealing. The trick is to use the heel of your palm and
seal the edges.

Yield: 2 loaves of 6 inch length

Ingredients:

2 cups Maida/APF
3 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoon active yeast
¾ cup warm water
1 cup ice cubes (to be kept in refrigerator until the last step)
½ tsp oil only to brush the top of the dough

Method:

In a small bowl warm ¼ cup of water.
Add the sugar and stir well. Sprinkle yeast and stir till the yeast dissolves.
Set aside till the yeast proofs.
In a large bowl add the flour and salt
and mix it well with hand.
Add the honey to the flour mixture and
mix well.
Now add yeast
mixture and mix using your hands until the flour gathers to form crumbly dough.
Gradually add 1 teaspoon of water at a time
while kneading with one hand to smoothen the dough. You may not need all the
water.
Knead the dough at least for 10 min
till the dough is smooth, elastic and stretches easily. This is a crucial step
so Do not cheat on this step. If you are using an electric hook, then you can
knead for 5 min.
Dip
your 2 fingers in oil and lightly rub the top of the dough to cover the exposed
surface from drying.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let it
rest for 30-40 m or until it doubles.
After it has doubled take the dough and
punch it using your knuckles and flatten the dough.
Make two balls and roll them and set
them aside for 10 minutes.
Then work on one ball. You can work with
your palms and flatten the dough with your fingers or Roll out the dough using
a rolling pin on a flat surface.
Make a rectangular shape; first time
about 4 inch in width and 6 inches in length.
Now fold the top lengthwise, until mid
way, to look like an envelope. Use the heel of you palm to seal the edges.
Now fold over the bottom half over the
top. Seal the edges well.
Flatten with your fingers or roll out
width wise and repeat the envelope folds and seals again.
Continue until you reach desired
length, either 6 or 8 inch or maximum 12 to 14 inch in length
Now just place the dough on a lightly floured
surface and gently roll out the dough.
Transfer to a greased tray and Set
aside for 30 min more
Towards the end of the rising period (I
generally start the oven 15 minutes before the end of the rise time) preheat
your oven at 230 C.
Take ice cubes in an oven safe pan
Slid the baking tray on the top rack and the
ice cubes on the bottom rack.
Close the oven door and Bake it for 15
min or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped
Serve hot with soups or cheeses.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#46

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Comments

Your comments, feedback are something I look forward to. So do comment and share with family and friends. Cancel reply

Nivedhanams Sowmya says

November 18, 2014 at 5:31 am

love this French bread for sandwich and for subs... awesome

vaishali sabnani says

November 18, 2014 at 6:19 am

Bread making is very tricky..but I guess a perfect recipe and proper tips can help. Glad you got it perfect the second time.

nayana says

November 18, 2014 at 11:00 am

Perfectly baked archana...

Srividhya says

November 18, 2014 at 7:35 pm

Looks perfect. I am still trying ;-(

Julie says

November 19, 2014 at 2:24 am

delectable one!

Manjula Bharath says

November 19, 2014 at 2:59 am

wow perfectly made baguetter archana 🙂 looks fabulous !!

Srivalli says

November 19, 2014 at 7:04 am

Wow Archana this has turned out so well too..very good yaar!

Varadas Kitchen says

November 19, 2014 at 12:16 pm

No more seams! You got everything tucked and sealed this time.

Priya Suresh says

November 19, 2014 at 6:48 pm

You got them prefectly Archana, u r in baking mode or wat, rocking yaar.

Padma Rekha says

November 20, 2014 at 9:06 am

Now this one looks great you got a perfect texture and shape...

sneha datar says

November 21, 2014 at 11:02 am

A perfectly baked bread.

Usha says

November 22, 2014 at 5:36 pm

Baguette turned out great.

Harini-Jaya R says

November 23, 2014 at 2:59 am

Turned out so well, Archana!!

Jayanthi Sindhiya says

November 24, 2014 at 11:38 am

Perfectly baked..lovely crust!!

Chef Mireille says

December 04, 2014 at 4:35 am

beautiful looking baguettes

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