Demi baguette

Finished Demi-baguettes

I needed some bread for lunch and hadn't got the time to go out and buy it between phone calls. I decided to make some small baguette style rolls although I didn't have the time to process them as I should have. I used instead a combination of normal kneading and stretch & fold techniques over a shorter period. The result was quite successful as I hope you can see from the finished product. (I'll refer to the variation between the rolls in the Observation

section below!)

I had done some reading on how to make a baguette-style bread and knew that the key variables were temperature; baking humidity; kneading style/time ; and, hydration of the dough.

I used these in my impromptu attempt.

Ingredients

700g of strong white bread flour. (It's all I had in the cupboard)

14g fast action yeast

1 tsp salt

520ml warm water.

This is more water than a normal dough and do the dough will be stickier.

Method

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients

Add the warm water and mix well with a wooden spoon

Flour a work surface and your hands as the dough is more sticky than normal. Knead for about 5 minutes then stretch the dough and fold over a few times. Go back to kneading normally for another 5 minutes and repeat the stretch and fold. Leave 5 minutes and stretch and fold again. Check that the gluten is in good shape using the thumb press test.

If the thumb print doesn't rise out, rework a round again.

Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for about an hour or until doubled in size . (I put mine under a grow-lamp these days as there are several in the kitchen. It seems to do the trick as our flat isn't generally that warm unless the heating is on.)

Near the end of the hour preheat an oven to 250C (fan) having previously placed a pan in the base with water in it. This will provide the steam to help crisp the crust. Keep the water topped up if it dries out.

When the dough is ready, remove from pan and knock back. I used a marble work top but you might need to dust other surfaces lightly.

Make the dough into a rough rectangle and cut it into 6 or 8 equal lengths.

Roll out by hand into a demi-baguette shape and size. Place on greaseproof paper on a baking tray with space around for the dough to rise and thicken .

Leave to rise for about 20 minutes.

Check water level in the oven to keep humidity and then place the trays in the oven to bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until risen , the crust is cracked and mid brown in colour.

The rolls should look something like the demi-baguettes here.

Observations

I used two oven trays and the rolls on the lower tray produced a better crust and crispness than those on the top. The ones pictured are from the lower tray.

I think I had too much water in the evaporation tray so that it took longer for the water to evaporate and create the humidity necessary. This I am sure is a part of the issue with the upper row of rolls.

I was also a bit cavalier with my cutting and so did not get the same crease in all the rolls , some of them appearing more rounded and smooth. You can see this in one of the images where the right hand three rolls look smoother than the others. However, they all looked good and were approved of by those who ate them but some could have been better.

They were still ok to eat the following day but benefitted from being heated in the oven for 5 minutes or so.

Next time, I'll take more time to allow a more effective stretch and fold rather than hurrying things up with the standard kneading technique. I am sure that it would be more appealing as a demi-baguette if I did that.

All in all however it was a good result although the calorie count was high at 350 Kcal for one of the 7 rolls I made.