Baguettes with Fermented Dough

Helping you to master the mighty Sourdough and make your own ferments so that you can make bread anytime. This title looks at specialty breads, using a range of flours and flavours. It explores the Croissant and all its variations as well as covers other sweet breads such as Stollen and Brioche.

Richard Bertinet‘s revolutionary and simple approach to bread making gives you the confidence to create really exciting recipes at home.

He shows us how a good crust is one of the most significant things about all types of great bread. To start with, Richard concentrates on mastering your own ferments, working the dough and proving, which helps your technique, and then, in his following chapters, he shows you how to make a range of bread.

First is ‘Slow’ – mastering sourdough, baguette and other breads; then ‘Different’, which uses a range of flours and flavours to produce seeded, spelt, rye, ciabatta, chestnut, bagel, pretzels and more; and finally you can explore variations of ‘Sweet’ – making croissants, stollen, brioche and buns. With stunning step-by-step photography, simple advice and helpful techniques throughout, Crust will delight and inspire you to make healthier, tastier and better-looking bread!

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Baguettes with Fermented Dough

This bread uses an all-purpose white dough suitable for loaves, baguettes, and rolls, etc. Fill a baguette with some good ham and grainy mustard and you have a delicious lunch. Once the ingredients are mixed, you can work it, shape it, and bake it as usual. However, you can also leave it to ferment for 6 hours at ambient room temperature or, better still, overnight in the fridge or a very cool place, and use it as a slightly different kind of ferment on which to build your loaf. Lighter than a poolish ferment, it will give you bread that is slightly darker looking, with a more rustic feel about it and a lovely depth of flavour.

Preparation: Ferment + 15 minutes
Resting: 3 hours
2nd Rising: 1 hour
Baking: 12–15 minutes

Makes 12 baguettes

FOR THE FERMENTED WHITE DOUGH

You will need

10g (⅓ oz.) fresh yeast (about 2 level tsp.)

500g (about 18 oz.) white bread flour (about 3¾ cups)

10g (⅓ oz.) salt (about 2 level tsp.)

350g water (about 1¾ cups)

This will make around 900g (2lb.) dough. You only need 600g (21 oz.) for this recipe, so you can leave the rest in the fridge for a few days and use in your next batch of baking. Alternatively, you could use it as a pizza base, or to make the Flamiche on page 112.

To make

• Rub the yeast into the flour using your fingertips, add the salt and the water and mix well until the dough begins to come together. Turn out onto your (unfloured) work surface and work the dough (see pages 24-6).
• Return the dough to your (lightly floured) mixing bowl. Cover with a baking cloth and let it rest at room temperature for 6 hours, or overnight in the fridge (or for up to 48 hours) until it has doubled in volume.

FOR THE BREAD

You will need

950g (33½ oz.) white bread flour (about 7–7⅓ cups)

50g (1¾ oz.) dark rye flour (about 6 level tbsp.)

720g water (about 3⅔ cups)

600g (21 oz.) fermented white dough

20g (⅔ oz.) salt (about 4½ level tsp.)

white flour for dusting, plus a little fine semolina, for dusting the peels

To prepare

Preheat your oven to 250ºC/500ºF. Unless you are going to bake in batches, you will need to use both shelves of the oven and put in 2 baking stones or baking trays, or one of each, to get good and hot.

Unless you are baking in batches, you will need enough peels or trays to load all the loaves before putting them into the oven. Line 2 large baking trays with couches or baking cloths.

To make

• Mix the 2 flours in a large mixing bowl, and then stir in the water. Mix well until the dough comes together. Cover with a baking cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Add the fermented dough and mix well. When everything starts to come together, use your scraper to help you turn the dough out onto your work surface (don’t flour it first).
• Work the dough (see pages 24-6) until it starts to become smooth and elastic. Sprinkle the salt on it and work it for another 2–3 minutes.
• Lightly flour your work surface, and then fold the dough into a ball (see page 27). Put the dough back into your (lightly floured) mixing bowl, cover with a baking cloth and let it rest for 1½ hours (see page 28).
• Lightly flour your work surface, turn out the dough with the help of your scraper, fold (see page 28), and put back into the bowl. Let it rest for another hour.
• Lightly flour your work surface again, and turn out the dough. Divide it into 12 x 185g (6½ oz) pieces (see page 31) and cover with a baking cloth to stop them from drying out while you’re shaping them.
• Shape the first baguette (see page 35) and place on a (lightly floured) couche or cloth-lined tray, seam-side down. Make a pleat in the couche or cloth, then shape the next baguette and lay it on the tray, so that the pleat keeps it separate from the first one. Continue forming your baguettes and pleating the couche/cloth so that none of the loaves touch each other. Cover with another baking cloth and let them rise for about 1 hour, or until just double in volume.
• Sprinkle some fine semolina onto your peels and place 2 baguettes on each, seam-side down. Slash the tops (see page 37).
• Open the oven door and quickly mist the inside of the oven with your water spray (see page 22). Use the peels to slide your baguettes onto the hot baking stones or trays in the oven. You should be able to fit 6 baguettes on each. Spray some more before quickly closing the oven door. Bake for 12–15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.

Recipe published with permission from Kyle Books.