Baguette

Baguettes are thin, long French breads. They taper towards the end and have their characteristic “scoring”. A good baguette has a golden, hard and crispy crust with a chewy interior. The best recipe using a baguette is a Bruschetta. You can also make lovely garlic bread with the same or even use them to have along-with soups.. What I do once the bread has passed two days is blitz them in a food processor and store them as breadcrumbs.

I saw this beautiful Baguette tray while shopping at Waitrose. Me who have never even read a Baguette recipe bought it thinking one day I’ll make a Baguette. And that day came a year later. I kept procrastinating making one, as I felt its tedious, hard and time consuming. But the effort put in for making them is nominal considering the goodness you end up with! You end up with a golden, crispy crust with chewy bread, laden with holes and your house smells like a boulangerie.

Épi de Blé

The recipe I used makes 3 baguettes. So I made 2 baguettes and with the third dough made an Épi de Blé or a baguette that resembles a sheaf of wheat. They say in Paris, every self-respecting bakery will offer an Épi. I had seen so many pictures of the same and always dreamt of making one. Never did I ever think I’ll make one! And when I made it, it turned out to be all things I ever dreamt it would be. The sharp tip, the dual colour, the bubbled texture on the bread and the stalk shape. I saw the surprise and excitement on my husbands face when I showed him the Épi. He was like “It’s exactly like in the pictures!”. The cherry on the cake was when Kainaz Messman of Theobroma commented that my Épi looked “Fabulous” on a totally unrelated post. She remembered my Épi, even though I didn’t tag her or mention her on the post. This was huge recognition for me. Such happiness! This is my Épi!

I used the recipe of King Arthur flour and the exact technique and it had amazing results. I need to better my technique the next time. But for a first timer, Im quite happy with the results.

Baguette

Lejna

Thin, long and flavourful French artisan bread with crispy, golden crust and chewy interior.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Fermentation and proofing 13 hrs

Total Time 1 hr 3 mins

Course Breads

Cuisine French

Servings 3 baguettes

Ingredients

  

Poolish or Starter

• ½ cup Cool water
• 1/16 tsp Active dry yeast
• 1 cup All-purpose flour

Dough

• 1½ tsp Active dry yeast
• 1 cup Lukewarm water
• Poolish or Starter all of it
• 3½ cups All-purpose flour
• 2 tsp Salt

Instructions

 

Poolish or Starter

• Mix everything together to make a soft dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 10 hours; overnight works well. The starter should have expanded and become bubbly.

Dough

• Mix and knead everything together — by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface may still be a bit rough. If you're using a stand mixer, knead for about 4 minutes on medium-low speed (speed 2 on a stand mixer); the finished dough should stick a bit at the bottom of the bowl.
• Place the dough in a lightly greased medium-sized bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rest and rise for 45 minutes. Gently deflate the dough and fold its edges into the center, then turn it over in the bowl before letting it rise for an additional 45 minutes, until it's noticeably puffy.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface. Gently deflate it, and divide it into three equal pieces.
• If you are planning to store your dough to bake the next day, this would be the time to place it in a bowl, cover it with cling film and refrigerate it.
• Round each piece of dough into a rough ball by pulling the edges into the center. Cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes; or for up to 1 hour, if that works better with your schedule.
• Working with one piece at a time, flatten the dough slightly then fold it nearly (but not quite) in half, sealing the edges with the heel of your hand. Turn the dough around, and repeat: fold, then flatten. Repeat this whole process again; the dough should have started to elongate itself.
• With the seam side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the dough into a 16" log. Your goal is a 15" baguette, so 16" allows for the slight shrinkage you'll see once you're done rolling. Taper each end of the log slightly to create the baguette's typical "pointy" end. This was my reference video on shaping a baguette.
• Place the logs seam-side down onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined sheet pan or baguette trays dusted well with flour; or into the folds of a heavily floured cotton dish towel or couche. Cover them with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaves to rise until they're slightly puffy . The loaves should certainly look lighter and less dense than when you first shaped them, but won't be anywhere near doubled in bulk. This should take about 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature.
• Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 230°C with a deep pan on the floor of the oven, or on the lowest rack. If you're using a baking stone, place it on a middle rack. Start to heat 1½ cups water to boiling.
• If your baguettes have risen in a dish towel or couche, gently roll them (seam side down) onto a lightly greased (or parchment-lined) baking sheet. If you plan on baking them on a baking stone, roll them onto a piece of parchment, and lift the parchment onto a baker's peel.
• Using a baker's lame (a special curved blade) or a very sharp knife held at about a 45° angle, make three to five long lengthwise slashes in each baguette.
• If using a baguette tray, you just have to load them into the oven.
• Load the baguettes into the oven. If you’re baking on a stone, use a baker’s peel to transfer the baguettes, parchment and all, onto the hot stone. Carefully pour the boiling water into the pan, and quickly shut the oven door. The billowing steam created by the boiling water will help the baguettes rise, and give them a lovely, shiny crust.
• Bake the baguettes — on the pan, or on a stone — for 24 to 28 minutes, or until they're a very deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool them on a rack. Or, for the very crispiest baguettes, turn off the oven, crack it open about 2", and allow the baguettes to cool completely in the oven, until both baguettes and oven are at room temperature.
• Store any leftover baguettes in a paper bag overnight; freeze for longer storage. Thaw and reheat just before serving.

Making an Épi de Blé

• Follow all the instructions of making a baguette till the shaping. Once shaped allow it to proof on a tray.
• Using scissor make angular cuts three-quarters of the way into the centre along each side at alternate intervals, then, pull each cut section to the side at opposite angles to create “ears”. You can refer to my video on how I shaped an Épi de Blé.
• Bake the same way as a baguette.

Keyword Baguettes, Breads, Epi bread, Epi de ble, French baguette, French breads