Sunday, January 19, 2014

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 . 




17 comments:

  1. Nice and now that I've started baking, I am gearing up for the baguette.

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  2. Your baguette looks amazing!!! I love baking different kinds of bread, there's just nothing like that taste of freshly baked bread, warm out of the oven (with some butter, of course!!!) This looks fantastic!

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    1. Freshly baked breads are the best . I would also love to have them with butter / Cream Cheese .

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  3. These baguettes look perfect! And the ingredient list is marvelously simple and short. And these would definitely be wonderful for making garlic bread...

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  4. I loved the crust ..Your baguette looks Perfect

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  5. lovely baguette it looks perfect.

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  6. the baguette look so perfect and spongy

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  7. That looks truly authentic! Popping by from Made with Love Mondays

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  8. This looks amazing! I will definitely try this! Stopping by from Play.Party.Pin! Love your blog!!

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  9. I made this tonight for supper and it was fabulous! The best baguette I have ever made. I had to add a tablespoon of water to the dough in the mixer, but, otherwise, followed the directions to the letter including the damp towel over the shaped bread; I think that made the difference. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    Lorraine

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    1. That's so nice of you Lorraine for letting me know how it turned out .
      I would update the water measurement in the recipe to so that it will be helpful for others too .
      Have a great weekend

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  10. Hi Shey,
    Your French Baguette looks like a great recipe that I would love to try. Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope you have a great weekend!
    Miz Helen

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  11. wow you have inspired me to try using yeast again. I never seem to do it right. Thanks for linking up to Friday frenzy this week.

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  12. Lovely perfectly baked bread.happy to follow you dear

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