There really is a difference. And right now we’re loving fougasse. So much that we have entirely rejected the idea of making focaccia.

When I first read about fougasse, I thought it must be virtually the same as focaccia. I dismissed making fougasse because I’d made focaccia. They were the same, after all.... 

Our fougasse craze started after reading about Chad Robertson’s fougasse in “Tartine Bread”. (It’s a GREAT book!!) But because of still being certain – what with my terrific retention skills when reading – that fougasse was simply French focaccia, I used the ingredients for our focaccia recipe along with Robertson’s shaping and baking method to make our first fougasse.

Amazingly, not only is the fougasse quite different from focaccia (even using the same dough), but both of us have decreed that fougasse is superior to focaccia. At least that’s what we think right now.

Because fougasse is baked on a stone instead of on an oiled pan, there are more crispy bits. Not too crispy though… it’s juuuuust right! Of course, it can be cut with a knife but we think that fougasse tastes better torn apart.

After the first couple of times making fougasse, I noticed that in his book, Chad Robertson suggests using baguette dough for making fougasse. ie: no oil in the dough itself.

So we tried that too. And it was good. Really good.

We’re not sure if it was better than fougasse made with focaccia dough. Just different. It’s the shaping, slashing and baking that will produce the characteristic (I think) fougasse texture and flavour.

Yes. We love fougasse so much that we can’t stop making it! I’m thinking that once you start making it, you won’t be able to stop either.

• Fougasse Recipe I followed (this is a link)

I am very pleased to be the host of October 2011's Bread Baking Babes’ task. Here is what I wrote to the BBBabes:

So far I’ve made fougasse using focaccia dough or baguette dough; plain with oil drizzled on before; plain with no oil drizzled on until just after baking; with poppy seeds added to the dough; with black olives; plain drizzled afterwards with oil infused mushrooms.

All were a little different but all were equally delicious. Of course, I’m hoping that you too neeeeeeed to make fougasse and will now bake along with us.

To receive a Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site: bake fougasse in the next couple of weeks and post about it (we love to see how your bread turned out AND hear what you think about it) before the 29 October 2011.

Please read here (this is a link) for details on how to participate.

-Elizabeth

(This is a partial mirror of a post about fougasse on blog from OUR kitchen)

This is mostly for amusement's sake.

Every so often, I want to make a recipe that calls for fresh yeast and I don't have fresh yeast. Of course, I have nothing against using fresh yeast. It's just not that easily found around here. Instead, I use the active dry yeast we always have on hand. (Why do I always choose active dry yeast? Because that’s what my mother always uses.)

In the past and quite recently, I have gone through various books and the internet looking for this conversion information. Here are some of the various formulae I have come across in my travels:

for every cup of flour in the recipe, use either of

    3 grams compressed fresh yeast
    2 grams active dry yeast
    1 gram instant active dry yeast

-Maggie Glezer, "Artisan Baking Across America"

_____________________________

Substitute twice as much (by weight) fresh yeast for the amount of dry yeast called for in the recipe.

-Daniel Leader, "Local Breads"

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1 g fresh = 0.5 g active dry = 0.4 g instant

-Susan (Wild Yeast), wildyeastblog.com

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2+1/2 tsp (one package) active dry yeast = 18 gm cake fresh yeast

-Carol Field, "The Italian Baker"

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A .6-oz [17gm] cube of cake yeast is roughly equivalent to 1½ to 2 tsp. instant yeast or 2 to 2¼ tsp. active dry yeast.

-Sydny Carter, Yeast: The Basics, allrecipes.com

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One .6 ounce [17 grams] cake is equivalent to 1 envelope [.25 ounce/7 grams] of dry yeast.

-Fleischmann's Yeast FAQ, breadworld.com

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yeast, compressed . . . . 1 cake, 3/5 oz . . . . 1 package active dry yeast

-Irma S. Rombauer, Know your ingredients, Joy of Cooking

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1 packed tablespoon of fresh or cake yeast=21 grams which=2-1/2 [8gm] teaspoons active dry (so for 100 grams fresh yeast use 1/4 cup + 1/2 teaspoon or 40 grams active dry)

-Rose Levy Beranbaum, realbakingwithrose.com

_____________________________

If you are substituting active dry yeast for instant yeast in a recipe, [...] add about 20 percent more yeast to the recipe than what is called for. [...] If you encounter a recipe that uses fresh yeast, divide the weight by 3 to calculate the proper amount of instant yeast to use.

-Yeast FAQ, thefreshloaf.com

_____________________________

Some years ago, with mixed up logic, I managed to work out the following formula. Remarkably, the bread I made rose beautifully.

2½ tsp (8gm) active dry yeast = 50gm fresh yeast

-me, my house

Depending on whose formula I use, to replace 50gm fresh yeast, I should use anywhere from 8 to 32.5 gm active dry yeast. (I think I have the arithmetic right with the various formulae: 32.5gm, 25gm, 22.5gm, 20gm, 17.5-20gm, 17gm, 8.3 OR 8gm active dry in place of 50 gm fresh yeast)

So. After all these contortions? I've decided that I'll use the higher amount of active dry to replace fresh yeast if there's lots of sugar in the recipe, but the lower amount if there's little sugar in the recipe.

-Elizabeth

Here is a nifty javascript that one of my sisters created after hearing about this:

• javascript conversion chart (this is a link)

edit: Ooops!!! I hit "save" by mistake. I MEANT to hit "preview". I think I've finished fixing things now. Have fun with the conversion chart!

Also may be of interest:

• Fresh Loaf: Yeast FAQ
• Fresh Loaf Forum: Fresh Yeast Question
• Fresh Loaf Forum: Using Fresh Yeast?

This wonderful bread made with sugar pears, unbleached all-purpose, whole wheat and rye flours, is based on Sandra Avital's (Le Pétrin) recipe for "Pain Rustique aux Poires".

This makes GREAT toast.

More detailed description and recipe here: Pear Bread (etherwork.net/blog/?p=1311)

-Elizabeth

(Yes, I made this by hand. Yes, the dough is exceedingly sloppy....)

Sandra Avital's (Le Pétrin) recipe is here: Pain Rustique aux Poires (sandrakavital.blogspot.com/2008/12/pain-rustique-aux-poires-pour-stphane.html) - recette en français

This spectacular bread is made with bread and a little wholewheat flours, potato and a little honey.  If you haven't made it yet, you've got to try it. It's fabulous!

- Elizabeth

my take on the recipe: Tortano, based on Royal Crown's Tortano in 'Artisan Baking Across America' by Maggie Glezer

The first time that I made these twisted bread rings, we were sorry they were so large. It made it difficult to cook them on the barbecue because two trays were required. So this time, I made smaller rings and fit them all onto one tray.

I love these making these rings. They’re SO easy to shape!

I used sesame seeds for half the rings and kalonji (nigella seeds) for the other half. And we love the smaller rings!! But we can’t decide which seed covering we like better. What do you think? Here’s the recipe:

• sesame twisted rings

-Elizabeth

We were reading Nigel Slater's "Eating for England",

You are faced with a plate of scones, a pat of butter, a dish of jam and a pot of clotted cream. [...] You have either butter or cream, never both. At least not when everyone is looking. It is generally accepted that the jam goes on first, followed by a teaspoonful of cream. Others insist it is the other way round.

-Nigel Slater, "Eating for England"

And we suddenly neeeeeeded to have scones. Luckily for us, not everyone was looking: we had all three condiments on our scones. Butter first, next cream - maybe more than a tablespoon, THEN jam. Mmmmmm!!! Scones with butter, "cream" (made with yoghurt and goat's cheese) and black currant jam. What could be finer?

The scones want to split in half; the crumb is very tender. The hint of nutmeg and addition of currants differentiates scones from our baking powder biscuits.

Recipes here:

• scones
• "cream", a reasonable facsimile for clotted cream made with yoghurt and goat's cheese

-Elizabeth

These rings (based on the recipe for 'Greek Sesame Galettes (Κουλούρια)' in "Mediterranean Street Food" by Anissa Helou) were baked in the barbecue.

It was hot in the kitchen. It was noon. But I mixed the dough anyway. And because it was so ridiculously hot , it was ready to be baked by dinnertime. We baked the rings in the barbecue.

We had the rings with grilled pork, beet tops, green beans and oven-roasted potatoes last night. And this morning, we had them for breakfast with Monforte "Don's Blue" ash chèvre and really good coffee. I can’t decide which way was more delicious.

Many thanks to Anissa Helou for this wonderful recipe. (I have just one small quibble: what is it with recipes that do not include water in the list of ingredients?! I hate having to read the instructions to find out how much water to use.)

-Elizabeth

(further details and my take on Helou's recipe: Sesame Twisted Rings)

Isn't this gorgeous?

It seems ridiculous that it took me so long to make this bread. I’ve been staring at the photo of Floyd's buttermilk cluster for ages. Every time I thought, "I've GOT to make that!" And then The Fresh Loaf website was featured in this year’s SAVEUR 100. Which bread did the SAVEUR kitchen choose to feature? Buttermilk cluster, of course.

I was really surprised when I saw a scathing review of the loaf on the SAVEUR site because all of the reviews on the FreshLoaf say the complete opposite. I examined both versions of the recipe and saw that the SAVEUR recipe calls for 5 cups flour rather than the 6 – 6½ cups flour on the Freshloaf recipe.

I assumed that SAVEUR had made a typing mistake.

I just couldn’t believe that all of these rave reviews on The FreshLoaf would be wrong, nor could I believe that SAVEUR would have added the FreshLoaf into the 100 list if the bread were no good.

I used whole wheat and unbleached all-purpose flour and a little less yeast, but otherwise pretty much stuck to Floyd's version. After some tribulation (I had to add more liquid because the dough was so dry), the final result was stellar!

Well!! As you must have guessed from the photo, we were thrilled after pulling this bread out of the oven.

It looked and smelled fabulous!! I removed the outer ring and stuck the thermometer in – huh! only 180F. So back into the oven it went for 5 more minutes to drive the internal temperature up to 200F.

We left it to cool overnight and had it for breakfast this morning with butter, goat’s cheese and black currant jam. It was crusty on the outside and soft and springy on the inside.

It. Was. Delicious.

Thank you, Floyd!

-Elizabeth

P.S. For more photos and details about what I did, please see buttermilk cluster (bookmarked, YS)

I'm really excited about this crusty loaf that I had formed into a ring. The bread turned out fabulously. I used a relatively new way of shaping that I learned from watching this YouTube video and then left the shaped bread in the fridge overnight and baked it the next morning. The crust is even more caramelized and crispy and the crumb has a wonderful nutty flavour.

We served this bread for a recent festive dinner with an appetizer of Moules Marinière (mussels poached in white wine, butter, onions, garlic and parsley)

• bread recipe based on the baguette recipe in The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
• blog from OUR kitchen: Moules Marinière (WHB#214: parsley)

We loved the Mussels so much that we think we'll serve them (with more of this bread) for Christmas Eve dinner. And maybe again on New Year's Even dinner too....

-Elizabeth

Please take a look at my annual Advent calendar (but don’t even THINK about peeking ahead).

Advent calendar

(edit: ooops, I forgot to sign my name)

(revised: 23, 24 April to add FreshLoaf recipes; 19 April 2009 to separate FreshLoaf recipes from offsite recipes; )

Favourite and "Must Try" Recipes and Techniques
Fresh Loaf recipes . Fresh Loaf techniques . Offsite recipes . Offsite techniques

Fresh Loaf

Commercial, Wild and Semi-Wild Yeast

• bagels (FloydM's) based on a Peter Reinhart recipe in "Bread Baker's Apprentice"
  
• sourdough bagels (bwraith's) based on a Nancy Silverton recipe
• Anis Bouabsa ficelles (dmsnyder's) baguettes
  
• cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread (FloydM's) based on a Hamelman recipe
• Sweet Corn Raisin Bread (FloydM's)  made with cornmeal
• English Muffins (FloydM's)
• Basic Sourdough Loaf (SourdoLady's) basic white bread calling for potato flakes, milk butter
• Semolina Sandwich Loaf (Zolablue's)
• Guinness Cheddar Loaves with Wild Yeast Starter (SulaBlue's)
• Susan's Original Sourdough (Susan's from San Diego) flour, water, salt and natural starter
• Susan's Ultimate Sourdough (Susan's from San Diego) flour, water, salt and natural starter
• Faux Deli Rye (Susan's from San Diego) caraway rye
• Onion-Poppyseed Sourdough (Susan's from San Diego)
• Norm's Onion rolls (nbicomputers') "flat and crisp crust type"

Challah, Festive rolls and braids

• Challah (Eli's) version of Maggie Glezer's sourdough challah from her book A Blessing of Bread)
• Cinnamon Rolls (FloydM's)
• Finnish Cardamom Bread (Julie J's Mother Inlaw's)
• Egyptian borek (Chahira Doud's)

Quick Breads

• blueberry bran muffins (Farmgirl's)
• Orange - Lemon Poppyseed Muffin (GrapevineTX's) adapted from a Dorie Greenspan recipe

Other

• Jennie's "La Panzenella" Rosemary Cracker Bread (jenmenke's) with video link
• Concord Grape Focaccia (Zolablue's)

Techniques

• Essential Equipment for Bread Making
• 6 strand braiding
  • 6 strand braiding video
• baking hamburger buns on the barbecue
• Kneading Slack Dough by Hand
• Scoring
• Baking under a cloche:
  
  • Put on Your Tin Foil Hats (Prairie19's)
  • "Magic Bowl" effect with an aluminum foil roasting pan (dmsnyder's)
  • Baking under an aluminum foil roasting pan (dmsnyder's)

There are more links to The Fresh Loaf bread recipes and techniques here: dmsnyder Recipe Index

Offsite

Commercial, Wild and Semi-Wild Yeast

• Bagels (best made with strong flour and parboiled in malted water before being baked)
  
  • bagels (Susanfnp's) Sourdough bagels based on a Nancy Silverton recipe
  • our "real" bagels based on Jo Goldenberg's bagels in "New Complete Book of Breads" by Bernard Clayton & Peter Reinhart's Classic Water Bagels
  • our wild bagels using wild yeast starter from "Piano Piano Pieno" by Susan McKenna Grant
• Cheri's Beer Cheese Bread calls for any beer or ale
  • my take with cider cheese bread
• caraway rye bread recipe based on the recipe for "Levy's" Real Jewish Rye Bread on p.324-328 in Rose Levy Beranbaum's BREAD BIBLE
• cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread
• multigrain bread made with seeds, cornmeal, oatmeal, buckwheat, rye and wheat flours
• seed and grain bread
• Semolina Bread with Currants, Fennel, Pine Nuts (Susanfnp's)
  • my take on semolina fennel seed bread with currants & pinenuts
• Susan's Hamburger Rolls (Susanfnp's)
  • my take on Susan's Hamburger Buns
• hamburger buns made with pita dough and baked on the barbecue
• flatbreads: naan, pita, chapatis
• Pao de Milho (Portuguese corn bread)
• pain rustique aux poires (pear bread - recipe is in French)
• rye and sesame seeds (wild-yeast)
  
• Mary's (aka Breadchick) Dark Onion Rye
  • my take on wild onion rye bread
• Wild Bread with Walnuts and Raisins (rye, wholewheat and all-purpose flour)
• Wild Bread (all-purpose and whole wheat flours, water, salt, wild starter)
  • Wild yeast buildup and feeding schedule

Egg Breads (Challah, Festive rolls and braids)

• Challah
  
  • another Glezer challah from her book A Blessing of Bread
  • semi-wild challah based on the recipe for basic sourdough in Piano Piano Pieno by Susan McKenna Grant and a recipe for challah in Maggie Glezer’s cookbook A Blessing of Bread
• festive bread (sweet egg bread)
• Foolish Poolish Hot Cross Buns
• cinnamon buns
• my take on Finnish Cardamom Bread recipe
• apricot roll
• Lucia cats (sweet saffron buns)

Quick Breads

• cheese pinwheels (using baking powder biscuit dough)
  

Other

• onion rings (How to use the toss-off) from building up wild yeast
  • my take on onion rings
• Faux Stowe Crackers (using left-overs from building up wild yeast)
• Tortas de Aceite (Olive Oil Wafers)
  • my take on Tortas de Aceite
• Grissini (bread sticks)
  
• pizza dough

Techniques

• about making diadèmes
• how to shape tabatières
• baking pita, naan or chapatis on the stovetop
• converting wild yeast starter to one using domestic yeast
• Flour + Water = Starter (how to raise a wild starter)
  • my take on raising a wild yeast starter

There are more bread recipes here:

• Recipes from OUR kitchen: Bread index