Baguettes

My first baguette attempt. I've done this several times since. They are delicious, but each time they get closer to the sort of baguette Cormac and I consumed a zillion of during our time in Paris. It just takes patience and more important, time, which I have little of!



This is the rough recipe. I'll admit, I have a bad habit of writing down my recipes in short hand.

First make the "sponge". This is the nice bit that makes all those air pockets in the middle of the bread. You simply fold this into the rest of the dough later.

Sponge:
280g flour (roughly 2 1/5 cups)
280g water
5g yeast

mix, let rise for 2 hours. After 1 hour, reach in and mix it up a bit. Don't start the dough until the sponge has been able to rise.

Dough:
720g flour (roughly 5 1/2 cups)
370g water (1 1/2 cup water)
5g yeast
20g salt (1 tbsp)

If you have a mixer, yay! You want to mix up the dough, add in the sponge (after the sponge has been allowed to rise). 1st speed in your mixer for 3 minutes, then 7 minutes on the 2nd speed. You can just knead it by hand, but that will suck.

Let rise 45 minutes in a warm place. It's always chilly here, so I warm my over a bit and stick it in there.

Split into two loaves, slice a few diagonal slices with a knife-- let rise another 30 minutes in a warm place.

Bake 225C for 25 minutes. CONSUME WITH RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF BUTTER/HONEY/JAM.