Bread With Jam

Category: Baguette

  • Decorative Shapes

  • Baguettes with Martin Philip

  • The Hasty Baguette

    Once again, this morning I’ve tested the concept that even a hastily prepared loaf of bread is better than none at all.

    When I got home from work on Wednesday, after having just provided chili and bread for a workplace birthday party, I decided it would be good to start another batch of dough. Now, as any baker knows, once the process has begun, you pretty much need to stay on a schedule or the bread won’t be as good as it could be.

    However, the forces of life tend to creep in and the schedule goes awry. Last night I had every intention of baking the bread, the oven already set to 550. Then one thing led to the next, got too tired, and headed up to bed. Around 4 AM this morning, I came down to an oven, still at 550 from last night (oops!), and the dough well proofed in my large ceramic bowl.

    It was time to either put this bread in the oven or forget the whole thing. There wasn’t enough time to scale and shape. So, I basically just divided the dough into reasonable sizes, did the best I could to shape them without degassing, and slid them into the oven in two batches.
    And once again, the baguettes wouldn’t win any prizes for looks, but they taste just wonderful. A very nice crumb and crust.

    Sometimes it pays to just put the dough in the oven and see what happens.

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  • Bevy of Baguettes

    It is so unlike me to do this. But I actually followed some instruction and process today. Using instructions from my new book by Ciril Hitz, I put together some French bread “classic” dough (using a poolish), and here is the result. I made three baguettes, one boule, and a batard. We’re about to sample these with soup and salad. I let you know how they turned out. But so far, they’re looking good!

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  • Ciril Hitz

    Ciril Hitz has a number of excellent instructional videos on baking techniques. Check them out! His cookbook is listed in the column at the right side of this blog. This video features shaping the loaves. I can smell if from here! Tonight I’m making a boule. Bagels in the morning! Stay tuned!