Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Baguette - Another way of making it !

Procrastination hits me every now and then or lets just keep it simple - it stays with me forever :). I would always think of making this baguette every other day, so that I could eat some right out of the oven and may be use it for bruschetta. Finally I made it :). 



It was during last winter that we made Bruschetta and Baguette for the first time and we were so much in love with it that we made it again and again. It had been a while since then. Suddenly an urge to have bruschetta grew in me the other day and no I was not going to calm it down by using a store bought baguette. I am so adamant about certain things :P.  Bad habit, I know, but if helps to overcome my laziness then ya I happily boost up my adamancy to achieve it.




Fresh breads can never be said no to. So when we made it, we had them hot with some butter spread on it. And the left over was used to make Bruschetta - the main culprit which made me give this baguette a try.




Ingredients
  1. 3 cups of all purpose flour
  2. 1 1/2 tbsp of yeast
  3. 1 tsp of salt
  4. 1 1/4 cup of lukewarm water 
Method

Making of the dough
  • We would need to make a sponge. This includes adding lesser amount of flour to the yeast and water and allowing it to rise first. In a bowl, drop in 1/2 cup of flour and half of the yeast. Pour in the warm water and mix it well. Let it rise for about 45 minutes or so.
  • Now mix the remaining flour, salt and yeast together and drop it into the sponge. Mix it well. If need be add more flour if the dough seems to be too sticky. 
  • Drop the dough on to a floured surface and knead it well to form a soft and smooth ball of dough. Divide it into two portions.
Shaping and baking of the Baguette
  • Drop the portioned dough onto a floured surface. Gently flatten it to form a rectangle.
  • Now that you have the rectangular dough in front of you, fold the top third of the dough to the middle and punch it gently using your wrist into the middle third of the dough. Do the same for the bottom third of the dough. 
  • Now fold in the top end of the dough to the middle and gently punch it into the dough using your wrist. Repeat it one more time. It would give you a thin log shaped dough. Now with both your hands in the middle of the dough start rolling the dough towards the ends of the dough and shaping it in such a way that they taper towards it ends. 
  • Place it on a floured surface and gently flour the top of the bread as well. Leave it for about an hour to rise again. Once risen, make few cuts on top of the bread.
  • Preheat the oven to 425 F and bake it for about 20-25 minutes.
Tips
  1. While shaping the baguette, make sure that you do not apply too much of pressure to the airy dough. When you punch down the dough, do it gently with your wrist in such a way that the dough ends just stick together firmly. Else, the bread would not be airy and would result in a very hard bread.



29 comments:

  1. Gorgeous. They have come out so perfect.. Love the texture!!

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  2. True! I can't say no to french bread.
    Baguette is perfectly made Anupa. On my to-do list and thank you for sharing the recipe. In love with 2nd pic!!

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  3. Your baguette looks delicious I am still afraid to try it as it is always a master's work in bread making.

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    1. Angane onnum ella...all u need to do is handle the dough as if its very delicate.. u would get a very airy bread...try cheyyu keto

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  4. Delicious bread.Tempted for a bite..

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  5. Wow such a gorgeous looking baguette ...It looks so professional.. Loved it dear.. Too good.

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  6. Wow! u are really into bread making... I am loving it. Baguette looks really airy well done Anupa.

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  7. the bread looks really awesome... thank u so much for the tips... if there is one area i have not looked at much, then it is table breads though i love to work with yeast... should try sometime to soon...

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    Replies
    1. try cheyyu keto...I too had this false belief that kneading would lead to a soft bread and all....but now I know...once risen delicate handling of the dough helps make it airy

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  8. Wow..... the pores in the bread says it all. it's a perfect baguette. Well made Anupa.

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  9. awesome bread and easy to make too.. going to try it soon..

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  10. Well done, baguette looks fantastic, baguette are our staple food here and you have baked them very much well.

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  11. Perfect Baguette Anupa!!! I can almost feel the airy soft texture on the slices.

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  12. wow, perfect, stunning and delicious baugette... awesome...

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  13. Wow! You have baked your baguette like a professional baker. They are fantastic!

    Nice to know you via blogging. Happy to be your follower and hope to keep in touch via blogging :D

    Zoe

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    Replies
    1. Hi, I seem to encounter some problem with Google friend connect and can't sign up to be your follower... Will keep trying :p

      Zoe

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  14. 1st time here. You have an amazing blog, loved the pics! Happy to follow u !

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  15. perfectly baked bread! looking at the picture one would think it has been just brought from the store..
    adipoliyayittundu..love ur space.. fell in love with it :)

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  16. Perfectly baked Baguette ........Looks sooo lovely.Well explained with tips ... .and love ur adamancy to take and do things.......Enikkum try cheyyanam.....Ethu kandittu cant resist myself......Thanx for d recipe dear.......

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  17. Beautiful clicks, and the bread has come out perfect.

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  18. Its a good habit gal.. Bread looks like bakery one...bread and me has some problem i think..i bought bread flour (and that too three types!) wanting to make some breads at home but days, weeks ,and months have passed still no bread..i have to check the date of the flour now and maybe throuw it away :)

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