Tag Archives: French bread

KAREN’S FOUR HOUR FRENCH BREAD

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My mile-long list of breads “to make soon” was shaken up by a recent post published by my friend Karen. It passed in front of all others, elbowing a Rustic Sourdough here, a Danish Rye there, a couple of Pretzel Loaves, and a few Crumpets. I could not get it off my mind, because not only her bread looked amazing, but she developed the recipe to make it happen in four little hours! Four hours from the time you grab the flour to watching the bread cool down and sing back to you…  I simply had to try it. With just a little adaptation, using spelt flour instead of regular whole-wheat. Why? My whole-wheat was in the freezer and I had just a small amount of spelt left in the pantry, which turned out to be exactly the 50g needed for the recipe. It is called flour fate.

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KAREN’S FOUR HOUR FRENCH COUNTRY BREAD

overview of the recipe

450 grams bread flour
50 grams whole wheat flour (I used spelt flour)
380 grams 90 to 95 degrees F water
10.5 grams fine sea salt
4 grams instant yeast

Flours are combined with water and mixed. Autolyse 20 minutes. Salt and yeast sprinkled on top. Incorporated by folding

Rest the dough 20 minutes. Fold. Rest 20 minutes. Fold. Bulk proof 2 hours.
(I proofed for 3 hours due to unforeseen circumstances).

Shape. Final rise 1 hour. Heat oven to 450F.

Bake for 40 minutes at, 30 minutes covered, generating initial steam using your favorite method.

Cool completely before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the full, detailed recipe, visit Karen’s site

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Comments: As you can see, I went with a different pattern for slashing the dough, but when it opened, it had a mind of its own. I did not get a star-shaped pattern, but it’s ok. I definitely want to keep practicing.  The bread had excellent oven spring, and made all sorts of nice noises while cooling, something that never fails to make a baker happy.
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The bread was out of the oven a little after 5:30pm on Saturday, and my original plan was to slice it next day. However, when Phil saw the bread he gave me two options: slice it right away and hand him a slice, or witness him going at it with his hands and teeth. I chose the first option, and contrary to all my principles, sliced the bread while it was still warm.  The crumb suffers a little, but truth be told, nothing beats the taste of bread fresh out of the oven!

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This would be an ideal bread for those a bit afraid of all things yeast. No sourdough starter needed, pretty straightforward method, and wonderful results. Plus it all happens in a reasonably short time, as far as bread baking is concerned.

Karen, you outdid yourself with this one!
Thanks for another great recipe…

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ONE YEAR AGO: The Siren’s Song of the Royal Icing

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THREE YEARS AGO: Chocolate Currant Sourdough Loaf & Roasted Beet Hummus

FOUR YEARS AGO: Sesame and Flax Seed Sourdough

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SIX YEARS AGO: Saturday Morning Scones

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Pain de Mie au Levain

FRENCH-STYLE ROLLS

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Avert your eyes, bread baker purists!    The dough for this bread is made in a food processor, and takes about 5 minutes to prepare,  from measuring the ingredients to setting the dough to rise. The recipe comes from Pam Anderson’s “The Perfect Recipe“, and I’ve made it many times in my pre-sourdough starter days. I still make it, when I want homemade bread but don’t feel like slaving over the  preparation. Simple, straightforward, quick, and best of all: works every time!

BASIC FRENCH BREAD
(from Pam Anderson)

1/2 cup warm water
1 envelope ( 2 + 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 cup cold water
4 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt

Sprinkle yeast over the warm water, let stand while you measure the other ingredients.

Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor and process a few seconds to mix.

Add the cold water to the yeast mixture, and with the motor running, pour it into the processor, allowing it to mix until it starts to form a ball. Adjust with water or flour if it feels too dry or too sticky. Process for 30 seconds.

The dough should look like this at the end of processing…

Remove it from the processor, knead it a few times by hand, and place it in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size (1 to 3 hours, depending on the type of yeast and temperature of your kitchen – mine doubled in only 55 minutes).

The dough makes enough for 2 loaves or 12 rolls. Shape them whichever way you like, I made half the recipe as rolls, and formed a loaf with the rest of the dough. Set them to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until almost doubled in size.

Make a deep cross-cut on top of the rolls using scissors;  slash the loaves with a blade or very sharp knife.  Bake the breads  in a 450F oven: rolls for 20 minutes, loaves for 40 minutes.   I bake my breads covered by a roasting pan for 3/4 of the baking time, then remove the cover  to get a nice dark golden crust.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

I am submitting this post to Susan’s Yeastspotting…  Make sure you drop by to enjoy the weekly collection of breads she offers every Friday.

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BBA#14: FRENCH BREAD

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by

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Another bread I was looking forward to! We arrived from the other side of the world a little tired, but after a nice shower I grabbed the book and prepared  “pate fermentee”. It’s a fancy name for a simple thing: flour, salt, yeast, and water, kneaded together, allowed to rise for one hour and placed in the fridge overnight.

French bread is reasonably easy to make, but tricky to shape, as the dough contains a high proportion of water. Refrain from adding too much flour and you are half the way there.

These photos show the complete dough (pate fermentee’ + more flour, salt, yeast and water) before and after rising for 2 hours at room temperature.  I cut the dough into three pieces, shaped as baguettes, taking care to deflate it as little as possible.

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The baguettes rise one more time, at least 45 minutes, then go into a 500F oven. I need more practice shaping baguettes, but overall I think they worked quite well.

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The crumb is not very open, but the bread has excellent flavor and texture.  They were a nice complement to our dinner tonight!