One gift of the pandemic has been baking "with" my urban grandson. We started with matching boxes of King Arthur Baking mixes, working our way through a couple of breads and cinnamon rolls, then scones. He's already an ace with sugar cookies and has his own recipe.
This weekend, he's working from scratch on baguettes -- I gave him a baguette pan, five pounds of bread flour, and a jar of dry yeast, over the holidays. So he's all set! Here's the recipe I provided this morning, and I get the feeling he's going to do this on his own:
Grandma’s Baguette Recipe
One cup warm water, in a large bowl. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons dry yeast over the water. In a separate bowl mix 2 cups bread or regular flour and 2 teaspoons salt. Then add the flour mix to the liquid and stir. Switch to the dough scraper* and and another cup of flour. Work it in with the dough scraper. Now just add a half cup or less flour at a time, folding the dough with the scraper to mix and stretch it, until it feels stretchy and still soft but almost firm. Add a tablespoon of oil to the bowl and roll the dough in it so it and the bowl are oiled. Cover bowl and let dough rise for 1 hour. Put a little oil or spray on your baguette pan. Start the oven heating to 425. Take a cutting board or sheet of wax paper or parchment and put about a quarter cup flour on it. Dump your dough onto this. Use the scraper to divide into loaves (your pan is for 3?). Roll each one with your hands into a long loaf and place in pan. Put parchment or wax paper loosely over them. Let rise - maybe 20 minutes? - then bake for 20 to 30 minutes until golden.
For those of you ready to fuss a bit more, two tips will make your loaves more like the French ones: Place a roasting pan of hot water on a lower shelf of the oven to add humidity (I don't want a 12-year-old doing this because of the risk of spilling), and when you're ready to bake, dust a bit of flour onto the tops of your loaves and add diagonal slits, using a very sharp blade.
Earlier this week I baked a rye-and-caraway bread that I really liked, improvising a bit from a recipe that came with the pumpernickel flour I bought from King Arthur Baking. Here we go:
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| Buttered rye bread with organic eggs ... mmm, my kind of breakfast. |
Soft Rye Bread With Caraway Seeds
Combine and mix in a large bowl, repeatedly folding with a dough scraper* to knead into a soft, smooth dough:
2 cups pumpernickel flour
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup potato flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup caraway seeds
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons dry yeast
3 cups warm water
Add a bit of oil to the bowl and roll the dough in it; cover and let rise 1 hour. Divide into two oval loaves and place them on a greased baking sheet. Let rise 10-15 minutes while you heat the over to 425 degrees. Slash the tops diagonally and bake 20-25 minutes. Try to wait until it's cool to slice it!
(The original recipe included 2 tablespoons of caramel color; I didn't have any, but it would have made the bread look more like a store-bought rye.)
*If you don't have a dough scraper ... well, there's nothing that does the job as well. Here's a link. They are cheap and you'll wonder why you waited so long to get one. Mine has a curved edge, which I like better than the straight one in this link, but it's not being sold by KAB now ... you may find one online if you look for a while.
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