French Baguette

Baguette -  Bakers dream bread . I am pretty sure anyone who loves baking , baguettes are in the to - do list . 

I had this in my to-do list for along time . I tried making baguettes with sour dough , believe me i was ashamed to call me as a baker for some time. They turned out so bad . I really don't know where it went wrong . Then i kept postponing  it .

 Finally i made baguette for the Home bakers Challenge. The recipe was suggested by +Priya Suresh . It turned out to be fantastic .  The bread had nice golden crust . It was perfect for the Garlic Cheese toast i made that evening ( Recipe to be posted ) . 

This recipe was quite simple using yeast . The sour dough recipe i made , actually took three days to make sour dough and finally it gave me disappointment . One good thing in that was , i used only 1 Cup of flour . So i didn't lose that much of ingredients :P .

Ingredients :

All Purpose Flour - 2 Cups

Sugar - 1 TSP

Warm Water -  Approximately 3/4 cup + ( might need another 1 TBLS )

Salt - 1 TSP

Yeast - 1 TSP

                                                                         

Instructions:

• In a bowl add sugar and yeast to the warm water and mix it well .  ( Make sure the water is warm , not hot . If its hot it will kill the yeast ).

• Keep the yeast mixture covered . Allow it to sit for couple of minutes till it turns frothy / Bubbly ( It means the yeast is active).

• In another bowl add flour and salt . Pour the yeast mixture and mix it initially then knead it using hands / stand mixture / beater with dough hook  for approximately 10 minutes.  

• Once you see the gluten forming in the dough cling wrap the dough in a greased pan ,allow it to proof for an hour / till it doubles in size. ( When you stretch a piece of dough , you can see a elastic sort of a thing , that's how gluten forms  ) Check this site  .

• Depending on the size of the bread you knead , divide the dough.

• Dust some flour before working on the dough .( helps not to stick to the counter )

• Take the portion of the dough and roll it to the shape of rectangle. 

• Roll , opposite sides towards the middle of the dough.

• Flatten it and roll one side of the dough again towards you and press the edges well with your figures.

• Roll the dough to form baguettes .
• Place the baguettes over the flour dusted cloth . Cover the Baguettes with a wet muslin cloth and keep it in a warm place . Allow it to raise for another hour .
•  Once it is raised ,  Preheat the oven at 400F.
•  Brush the baguettes with water and make slashes , dust some flour over it .
• Keep a bowl of water in a corner of the oven and bake the baguettes at 420F for 25 minutes. ( Baguettes are ready if you hear a hollow sound when they are tapped ) 
•  cool them completely . 

Monday - Mix it up Monday, The Scoop, Made with love Monday, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks  , Inspire me monday , Make the scene monday , Inspiration Monday ,cooking for seven dwarfs , Much Ado about monday , Craft - o-Maniac monday , Made by you monday

Tuesday - Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, , Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home ,   Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles, Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, Handmade tuesday

Wednesday -Buns in the oven , Lady behind the curtain , Wined down wednesday,  Wonderful  food wednesday ,Show and share wednesday , The wednesday roundup , Weekend Retreat 

Thursday - , Fantastic Thursday , Thriving on thursday , Full plate thursday ,

Friday -  Freedom Friday , foodie friday , pin junki , foodtastic friday , weekend wonders , friday food frenzy , weekend potluck , play party pin , Fantastic Friday
Sunday - sunday sharing pinterest party