French baguette
Calories: 50kcal
Ingredients
- 500 grams all-purpose flour
- 350 milliliter water (filtered)
- 10 grams yeast (instant)
- 10 grams salt
Instructions
Utensils
- Standing Mixer with dough hook
- Large bowl, cling film or lid cover for bowl
- Measuring cup, scale, small bowls
- Dough scraper
- Baguette Baking sheet, or regular baking sheet and baker’s cloth
- Kitchen towel
Preparation and kneading
- This is a particularly wet dough. Don’t be tempted to knead it with your hands, it’s far too sticky and you will not be able to knead it in such a way that the gluten will fully develop.
- Line up your standing mixer and get the dough hook going. Add the flour to a the bowl, and add the salt on the one end, and the yeast on the other end. Try and prevent the salt to come into direct contact with the yeast: the yeast will lose its effectiveness. Add the water and set the machine to ‘knead’.
- After 7-10 minutes, the dough will get silky and smooth. When you can stretch the dough without it tearing right away, you are ready to go.
First or bulk proofing
- Grease up a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl: cover the bowl with a lid, clear film or a moist kitchen towel. Leave to rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Shaping and second proofing
- Now comes the tricky bit. You need to form the dough, but you want to preserve as many of the bubbles in the dough as possible. Pour the dough on your kitchen counter. If the dough sticks to the bowl, use the scraper to scrape it off the edges. Using a dough scraper or knife, cut the dough in 3 pieces. Do no tear, as you will tear and break the carefully built up gluten.
- Stretch and fold one of the pieces in a rectangular shape, lay it on the kitchen top and, with the long end facing you, fold 1/3rd of the dough across the middle of the dough. Press the edge with the palm of your hand. Turn the dough 180 degrees and fold the other 3rd across the middle of the dough and press again. Fold it across the middle and pinch with your fingers. Carefully lift it, and stretch the dough in a long shape, and place on the baking sheet. Twist the end of the loaf to get a pointy end. Repeat for loaf 2 and 3.
Baking
- Dust the bread with a little bit of flour. With a very sharp knife, slice the breads with three incisions, diagonally.
- Place the sheet in the oven, and using the plant spray bottle create a mist of steam in the oven, but be careful not to aim at the light or it will pop, not at the bread as it will make the flour on top gummy. Bake for 25 minutes: the breads need to be golden brown on top, and dark yellow on the bottom.
- Take the breads from the tray and place on a cooling rack to cool off. Allow the bread to fully cool before you cut them.
- The breads are best if eaten as quickly as possible. Bon appetit!