French cuisine · Dough, Pasta & Rice

Baguette

French white bread with a long pre-ferment, slashed diagonally and baked with steam to a shattering crust.

Ingredients · for 6 servings

• 150 g wheat flour (type 550/all-purpose) for the pre-ferment
• 150 ml water for the pre-ferment
• 1 g fresh yeast for the pre-ferment
• 350 g wheat flour (type 550/all-purpose)
• 200 ml lukewarm water
• 4 g fresh yeast
• 11 g salt
• 2 tbsp flour for shaping

Instructions

1. For the pre-ferment, stir 150 g flour, 150 ml water and 1 g yeast until smooth, cover and let ferment at room temperature for 12 hours – ideally overnight – until bubbly.
2. Knead the pre-ferment with 350 g flour, 200 ml lukewarm water and 4 g yeast for 5 min into a soft dough, then add the salt and knead for a further 5 min until the dough comes away cleanly from the bowl.
3. Cover the dough and let it rise for 90 min, folding it from all sides towards the centre once after 30 and once after 60 min – it should roughly double in volume.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, divide into three pieces, shape loosely into rounds and, after 15 min of resting, shape into 35 cm long strands.
5. Let the strands rise in the folds of a floured cloth for 45 min, preheat the oven with a baking tray to 250 °C, and just before baking slash the loaves diagonally three times.
6. Create steam with a cup of water on the oven floor, bake the baguettes for 12 min at 250 °C and a further 10–12 min at 220 °C until the crust is deep golden brown and the base sounds hollow when tapped; cool on a wire rack.