If there’s a loaf that definitely needs to be eaten on the day that it’s cooked it’s the baguette! If you’ve ever eaten a home-made baguette fresh from the oven you’ll never buy shop bought again. a) It’s the most tasty, warm, crisp delicious bread you’ll ever eat and b) It’s so easy to make! It’s great with a ploughman’s lunch, a bowl of soup or on its own slathered with good quality butter.
The recipe I use is from a book we’ve reviewed in the past, Emmanuel Hadjiandreou’s How to Make Bread. There are full-colour photographic step by step instructions so you can’t go wrong!
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest!
Baguettes made with a poolish
- 2 g fresh yeast or 1g/¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 125 g/125ml/½ cup warm water
- 125 g/1 cup white/unbleached plain/all-purpose flour or French T55 flour
- 300 g/2½ cups white/unbleached plain/all-purpose flour or French T55 flour
- 5 g/1tsp salt
- 2 g fresh yeast or 1g/¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 140 g/140ml/½ cup plus 1tbs warm water
In a (larger) mixing bowl, weigh out the 2g fresh yeast or equivalent. Add the 125g/125ml/½ cup water and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the 125g/1 cup flour and mix with a wooden spoon until a spoon paste forms. Cover the bowl and let ferment overnight at room temperature. This is the
poolish (Rather than do this stage I used 250g of my white starter)The next day, in a (smaller) mixing bowl, mix the 300g/2½ cups flour and the salt together and set aside. This is the dry mixture
In another (smaller) mixing bowl, weigh out the remaining 2g fresh yeast or equivalent. Add the 140g/140ml/½ cup plus 1tbs water and stir until the yeast has dissolved
Mix the yeast solution into the poolish, then add the dry mixture too and mix with your hands until it comes together
Cover and let stand for 10 minutes
Cover the bowl again and let stand for 10 minutes
Repeat steps 6 & 7 twice, then step 6 again
Cover the bowl again and let rise for 1 hour
Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Punch down the dough and transfer to the floured surface. Divide into 3 equal portions – weigh each piece and add or subtract dough until they all weight the same
Gently flatten each ball of dough into an oval. Pull both ends of the oval out, then fold them over into the middle. You will now have a roughly rectangular shape
Pull and fold the top of the rectangle one third of the way toward the middle, pressing into the dough. Swivel it 180° and repeat. Repeat until you have a neat, long loaf shape
Repeat with the remaining portions of dough. Cover the loaves (seam-side down) and let rest for 15 minutes
Turn one loaf over and flatten slightly . Fold the top right of the rectangle one third of the way toward the middle, pressing it into the dough. Repeat with the top left and repeat until rolled up
Roll the dough between your hands until you get a baguette about the length of your baking shape or the desired length. Repeat with the remaining dough
Dust the proofing linen/tea towel with flour and lay it on the baking sheet. Arrange the baguettes on the cloth, seam-side up, pulling a bit of excess cloth between each baguette to separate them
Cover with the cloth and let rise until double the size – about an hour
About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/Gas 9. Place a roasting pan at the bottom of the oven to preheat. Fill a cup of water and set aside
When the dough has finished rising, turn the baguettes over with a peel, if using, onto a paper-lined baking sheet. Dust them with flour and slash along their lengths using a
lamé or serrated knife
Put in the preheated oven and pour the reserved cupful of water onto the hot roasting pan
Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. To check if baked through, tip one upside down and tap the bottom – it should sound hollow. If ready, set the loaves on a wire rack to cool
(click on the image for an expanded view)
Leaving the dough in the bowl, pull a portion of the dough up from the sides and press into the middle. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat this process with another portion of the dough. Repeat another 8 times. The whole process should only take about 10 seconds and the dough should start to resist.
