I am not sure whether I should be happy or sad about this loaf. Pain Brie is a traditional bread of the Normandy region of France and it gets its name because ‘brier’ means ‘to pound’ and ‘pain’ is french for bread. So Pain Brie is pounded bread because the dough is pounded many times before it is baked and that leads to a tight crumb. I have been after getting an open crumb for ages now and when I finally get it, it is for a bread that needs a tight crumb. Should I be happy or sad? No clue really.
Why I love the Pain Brie?
This is the first time I have pounded the dough and it was exciting to try this unique method for baking bread. It is a classic bread and involves only the 4 basic ingredients for a delicious loaf – flour, salt, yeast and water. It is a bread with a starter and I simply love them because of the beautiful texture and taste that starter lends to the loaf. So, in other words, this loaf is amazing and nearly impossible to resist.
For other French breads, check out Baguettes, Rosemary Fougasse, Eggless Brioche, Boule, Multigrain Fougasse and Pain d’Epi
Recipe from here
Makes 1 medium sized loaf
WHAT WE NEED
180 gms All purpose flour
2 tsp Instant yeast
1 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Lukewarm water
WHAT TO DO
- In a large bowl, add the yeast, 1/3 cup of water and 40gms of flour and mix well
- Add another 40 gms of flour and knead to make a smooth dough that is not sticky
- Cover and let it rise overnight
- Add the balance 100 gms flour, 1/4 cup water and salt
- Knead well to get a tight dough, around 10 minutes by hand
- Use a rolling pin to pound heavily on the dough and flatten it
- Fold it and pound again
- Repeat the process 7-8 times
- Rest the dough for 10 minutes
- Shape it like a ball and place it on a baking tray or parchment paper
- Cover and set aside and let it rise for around 2-2 1/2 hours
- Preheat the oven to 220C
- Make 4-5 slits on top of the dough
- Bake for 40 minutes or till the top starts to turn brown
- Cool completely before cutting into it
- Enjoy!
NOTES
- I kept the starter for around 8 hours overnight and it had a slightly sour taste. So if you live in warm climates, around 5-6 hours should be enough for the starter.
- When you cover the dough for the final rise, ensure the top is not too wide because the dough will then spread and you won’t get a good rise on the bread
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM
Bread Therapy 
How porous and prefect those crumb looks.. Havent tried this bread yet, now i dont have any excuse for not baking this fabulous rustic bread.
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OMG! Look at the porous bread you got, Sowmya. Amazing. I need to close this window soon as my husband will ask me to bake this bread 🙂
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What a beautiful crumb shot! That is a really amazing bread you have baked Sowmya.
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Wow!! The Texture is so lovely. And looking at the list of ingredients it has is just awesome. So simple to make.
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Sowmya, that’s a the sad part of the story, when we want something, we may have progressed from that spot..lol..imho this bread looks fantastic..I am not a pro baker and the limited bread that I have baked makes me say this looks awesome..hehe..great job yaar!
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That is gorgeous loaf of bread Sowmya — so airy — perfect crumb. So simple with just a few ingredients.
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wow, love the texture of the bread. Turned out very well.
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That bread looks amazing. I can’t take my eyes of that porous bread.
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fabulous work done by pounding and baking. Look at those crumb, that resulted after doing all hard work. Loved this one.
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The bread looks amazing Sowmya. The name of the bread intrigued me. I was wondering why the name of bread starts with pain….you have given the explanation though, but my explanation would be all that pounding results into lot of pain so the name is Pain brie…Lol
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I am in love with the crumb of this bread Sowmya. I have never tried the pounding technique for the bread. I am going to bookmark the recipe and try soon!
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waht a lovely crumb dear!! those holes, brings tears of joy !!!! lovely bread sowmya!
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Sowmya! Maata tumhae paar kaha hai!!! I must try this bread! It is so beautiful! I have no words to express myself. Will try and ape you!
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You have so many type of bakery stuff on blog… all are just perfect.. and for me now you are perfect person in baking specially… no words left for your baking skills… just mesmerizing me always.
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