I have been planning to make baguettes for a long time but have postponed it simply because I was so scared I would mess up. Finally the French cuisine theme seemed the perfect time to finally try making the baguette.

I am happy to report that overall the baguette was not a failure. I would get ahead of myself if I called it a success but it got the crisp exterior and a chewy crumb. The only issue was that I ended up making it thinner than it should be and it looked more like a ficelle rather than a baguette. Well, that’s what second tries are for, I guess!

Recipe adapted from here

Makes 2 baguettes

WHAT WE NEED

For the poolish

1/4 cup Water

A pinch of instant yeast

70 gms All purpose flour

For the dough

3/4 tsp Instant yeast

1/2 cup Warm water

All of the poolish

245 gms All purpose flour

1 tsp salt

WHAT TO DO

• Mix all the ingredients for the poolish to form a soft dough
• Cover and set it aside for 8-10 hours or till the poolish has doubled and become very bubbly
• Add all the ingredients for the dough to the poolish and knead for 10 mins by hand / 3-4 mins with a mixer
• Set it aside covered for 90 mins or till th dough is double in volume
• Take out the dough and divide it into 2 pieces
• Make a rough ball with each piece and set it aside for 15 mins to 1 hour
• Roll each ball into a long rope. The length depends on the size of your baking tray
• Ensure that the ends are pointy like a baguette usually is
• Leave it on the baking tray / couche for 45 mins to an hour
• If you don’t have a baguette pan then cut up any tubular cardboard into 2 pieces. Lay them on the baking tray and put a parchment paper on it. I used the cardboard available at the end of the kitchen tissue roll. You can even use a Pringles chips box.
• Place one rolled dough between the two halves of the cardboard to rise for the final 45 mins to an hour
• Preheat the oven to 230C with an empty tray at the bottom rack
• Pour 1 1/2 cups of hot water on the empty tray
• Make 3-5 slashes on top of the dough and then place the baguette tray on the middle rack
• Bake for 24-28 minutes or the top is golden brown
• Enjoy!

NOTES

1. I made 3 baguettes instead of 2 and hence mine turned out very thin.

This is my post for the Blogging Marathon under the theme, ‘French Cuisine’.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM