The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Bernard Clayton's S.S. France Petite Pain - Revisited and Revised

holds99's picture
holds99

Bernard Clayton's S.S. France Petite Pain - Revisited and Revised

 

 

In the recent past a number of TFL bakers have asked me for the recipe for Bernard Clayton’s S.S. France Petite Pain rolls. I sent the recipe to all who requested. The requests got me to thinking. Mr. Clayton’s rolls are baked using the direct method, using only yeast for leavening. Recently I began thinking how this recipe might be improved, or at least made differently, with the addition of a poolish. With that in mind I began experimenting and testing the recipe and have come up with what I believe are rolls with a somewhat better flavor than a direct method baking.  The added flavor is, I believe, a result of using an overnight starter (poolish). Above are some photos and below is the recipe for anyone who may be interested in what I believe are really good breakfast or dinner rolls.

Note: This recipe can be halved.

Howard

 

Petite Pain – Howard’s Formula

Starter Dough Mixture (Poolish)Ingredients

Unbleached all-purpose flour………………………………………………… 10.4 ounces
Instant yeast………………………………………………………………………….... 1/4 teaspoon
Malt powder (optional)…………………………………………………………..... 2 teaspoons
Water, at room temperature (70-90 deg. F.)…………….…..... 8 ounces

Total Starter Dough Mixture……………………………….. 18.8 ounces

Six hours or up to 2 days ahead, make the starter dough (poolish). In a medium bowl or 2 quart plastic container, combine all the ingredients for the poolish and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon for 3 to 5 minutes or until it is smooth and comes away from the side of the bowl/container. It will be slightly sticky to the touch.

Cover the bowl/container tightly with a lid or oiled plastic wrap (or place the poolish in a 2 quart food storage container with a lid) and set it aside until tripled in volume and filled with bubbles. Note: when the poolish has reached its peak there should be lines and creases on the surface and the mixture should be bubbly/foamy-like and it should be beginning to fall back on itself but not collapsing entirely. At room temperature, this will take about 6 hours. Note: After 3 hours the poolish can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

If refrigerated, remove it to room temperature for 1 hour before mixing the final dough.

To proceed with the rolls add the water from the Final Dough Mixture (below) to the poolish container, stir it down and proceed with mixing the Final Dough per the instructions below.

Final Dough Mixture Ingredients

Unbleached all-purpose flour………………………………………………… 25.0 ounces
Instant yeast………………………………………………………………………....….. 1 teaspoon
Salt……………………………………………………………………………………….......… 2 teaspoons
Water, at room temperature (70-90 deg. F.)………………….. 16 ounces
Poolish (from above)……………………………………………….……………….18.8 ounces

Total Final Dough Mixture……………………….......…….. 65.36 ounces

Mix the Final Dough.

In the mixer bowl (I use a KitchenAid), whisk together the flour and yeast. Then whisk in the salt (this keeps the yeast from coming into direct contact with the salt, which could affect the yeast’s leavening properties). If you haven’t done so, add the Final Dough water to the container with the poolish and loosen the poolish from the container with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, loosely mixing it with the water.

Add the water/poolish mixture to the mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for a couple of minutes (#1 speed if using a KitchenAid) adding the flour/yeast/salt mixture ½ cup at a time, until the flour is moistened into a shaggy mass. Turn off the mixer and cover the top of the mixer bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow dough to autolyse (rest) for 20-30 minutes.

Remove the film/towel and turn the mixer on to speed #2 and continue for about 5 minutes until it starts to develop gluten has strands. After 5 minutes increase the speed to # 6 for about 30-60 seconds, or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer bowl. If the dough hasn’t pulled away after about a minute, scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium-high (#6 Kitchen Aid) for another 2 minutes. If it still doesn’t pull away from the bowl, beat in a little flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, on low speed (#2 KitchenAid). The dough should cling to your fingers when touched.

Let the dough rise.
Using an oiled spatula or dough scraper, scrape the dough from the paddle and container into a 4 quart food storage container, light oiled with cooking spray or oil. (The Final Dough will weigh 65.3 ounces and be 62.5% hydration) Push down the dough and lightly spray or oil the top with cooking oil. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. With a piece of tape, mark the side of the container at approximately where triple the height of the dough would be. Allow the dough to rise (ideally at 75 deg. F) until tripled in volume, 1 ¼ to 2 hours.

Note: At 20 minute intervals, during the first hour of bulk fermentation, empty the dough onto a slightly wet work surface (not floured but lightly misted with water) and stretch the dough, folding it into thirds, like a business letter.  Turn it a quarter turn and fold it into thirds again. Then place it back into the container seam side down.

Do a total of 3 stretch and folds at 20 minute intervals during the first hour of bulk fermentation.

Divide and shape the dough and let it rise.
Distribute a moderate amount of flour onto your work surface in a square 16” X 16”. Using an oiled spatula, gently scrape the dough onto the floured work surface. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour. Handle the dough gently at all times to maintain as much gas in the dough as possible. Using a sharp knife or the edge of a dough scraper and a kitchen scale, divide the dough into 4 ounce pieces. You should end up with approximately 16 pieces of dough, each weighing 4 ounces.

Divide the remaining piece of dough (1.3 ounces) into a half dozen, or so, pieces and spread it around, randomly adding a piece of it to the 4 ounce dough pieces. Shape the 4 ounce dough pieces into rolls, using the dry edge of the work surface to get traction in shaping.

Place the rolls on a parchment lined baking pan, cover your rolls lightly with a cloth, plastic wrap, sprayed with cooking oil (to keep it from sticking to the dough), or, as I do, with a rectangular plastic bin large enough to accommodate your baking pans. Let the rolls rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Use a floured finger to test the rolls to check for spring back.
Do not let them over proof.
Score the tops of each roll with 2 quick slashes made at a 90 degree angle and place them into a preheated 475 degree oven.
Add a cup of water to a preheated pan or skillet to product a large burst of steam.
After 5 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes, turning the pans around midway through the baking cycle.
The internal temperature of the rolls, when done, should be 205-210 deg. F.

Notes:

Bobs Red Mill Flour – unbleached, unbromated
KAF instant yeast
Sea salt
KitchenAid Mixer and 5 minutes of hand mixing (Richard Bertinet's slap and fold method) 
3 stretch and folds at 20 minute intervals

Comments

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Those look delicious, Howard (has anyone noted your resemblance to Clark Gable?).

Supposed to have a blizzard this weekend, so I'll be housebound and able to give them a try.

Thank you for posting such thorough instructions.

Lindy

 

holds99's picture
holds99

The photo is of the younger brother of Hedley Lamar (Blazing Saddles :>)  Actually, I really took it from an old movie poster "Vigilantes of Dodge City".  Don't know who the guy really is, other than a Republic Pictures B movie actor. What caught my eye was his string tie, pencil-thin mustache...and the way he slyly deals every other card off the bottom of the deck.

Seriously, these are really good rolls.  I didn't show the rest of the batch, but I took half the dough and made some 8 oz. sub rolls (you could make them 6 oz. and they would be fine).  They too turned out very good.

Hope it works out for you.

Howard

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I have recently posted several of the Clayton breads that I have made . I have loved his recipes for many decades. I am looking forward to trying this version of his rolls. c

holds99's picture
holds99

C,

I've had Clayton's book for years and have baked many of the recipes.  If you haven't yet do so I would suggest "Pain de Compagne Honfleur (pg. 246) and Pain de Compagne Madame Doz (pg. 249).  They're both true winners,

Hope you enjoy the rolls. 

Howard

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Howard, this is great!  Right after I got the recipe from you...I was a little disappointed seeing it was a direct method...I was going to add a biga or poolish to it....Oh!  perfect you did it! "Mental T."  Im sure it's going to be really tastey now!  Thank you so much for writing it all down...I'm up so late...I've been moving furniture all day from storage...of coarse there was my husband and 3 other men helping...I made...of coarse...about 7 large pizza's for everyone and salad at the end of the moving furniture....long day for me!  Thanks again for the new recipe!

Sylvia

holds99's picture
holds99

The other day in your e-mail you mentioned you might be doing these over the weekend so I hope they work out for you.  I tested them twice before posting the recipe.  The dough is a bit hydrated, but using Bertinet's method (slap and fold) along with the 3 stretch and folds, at 20 minute intervals during the first hour of bulk fermentation, should firm the dough up nicely and get some air into it, making it light and airy/gassy and producing a nice crumb.  With the first test batch I used King Arthur Italian style flour, which I use for ciabatta, and they had a nice thin crust and open crumb.  The second batch I made with Bob's Red Mill and they came out just as good, only with a very slighly thicker crust. 

Moving furniture doesn't sound like much fun, but the pizzas sound great.  My wife, Charlene, is ecstatic today.  She's a Florida alum and Florida beat Oklahoma last night in Miami.  I don't know what they do to "Gators" while they're at school in Gainesville but they never really shake off "The Swamp".

Anyway, hang in there and have fun with the rolls and have a restful weekend,

Howard

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Howard,

Thanks for reminding me about this bread.  I made it this weekend using my starter to seed the initial levain, rather than commercial yeast.  From that decision, I then skipped the buttermilk and vinegar, substituting water in their place.

This is big bread!  I made two boules and each weighed almost exactly a kilogram after baking.  One hung about an inch over the edge of my stone and got a little charred at that location, but no real damage.  The finished loaves were too big to fit into any of my freezer bags, so I had to cut the bread in half and put a half-loaf in each bag.  I'll have to get a bigger stone, or shape into 3-4 loaves next time.  The crumb is very moist, with both wheaty and tangy notes in the flavor.

Good stuff!

Paul

holds99's picture
holds99

Paul,

I love Clayton's writeup about Madame Doz: "I towered over Madame Doz in height only.  At ninety-nine years of age, she stood head and shoulders above me in knowledge of baking..." 

Here's a couple of videos from Theresa Greenway you may find interesting if you haven't already seen them.  The first one is about 7 or so minutes, where she divides 6 lbs of dough into thirds and bakes them.  The second one she shows different scoring techiques.  She's pretty amazing.

http://northwestsourdough.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/shaping-and-slashing-dough-videos/

Howard

pmccool's picture
pmccool

I had not seen these before.  The lady knows how to handle dough!  When she first scraped it out onto the bench, I thought it had not been kneaded yet.  Then I realized it was a very slack dough.  And yet, with quick, decisive motions and very little bench flour, she had it shaped and tensioned.  Very impressive!

Paul

Wisecarver's picture
Wisecarver (not verified)

...Great job.

holds99's picture
holds99

Appreciate your kind words.

Howard

weavershouse's picture
weavershouse

Thanks for the great write up on these delicious looking rolls. I copied it off and hope to start them today.

Great job.

holds99's picture
holds99

So good to hear from you.  Hope all is well with you and yours and you had a good holiday.  Also, hope the rolls work out for you. 

Howard

holds99's picture
holds99

1. There is a typo in the water temperature for the final dough.  The water temperature for the Final Dough mix should have read 70-80 degrees (NOT 70-90 degrees, as I stated in the recipe).  Closer to 70 degrees is better.  In fact many times when making sourdough breads I use water that I keep stored in the fridge, which is cold, for mixing dough.  This keeps the dough temperature cool during the mixing process with the KitchenAid and/or by hand.  It results in a little slower rising time but IMHO slower is better.  Sorry about the error.

2. The yeast I use is SAF not KAF.  Sorry about that one too.

Howard

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

The starter is huge after 1 hr . I am doing a photo record of it for friends so I will post when I get it finished tomorrow. Thanks...it has been a long time since I made that loaf. c

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I had great success right up till the last rise. I knew better than to follow his inst. for rising to 3x . Had no oven spring at all and when I tried to slash they wrinkled. The taste and the crumb are very good. I really need to write these things next to his recipes as he almost always has this flaw. So I will try this again next week . We can only eat so much :)  Your rolls are just so beautiful. Caroline

holds99's picture
holds99

Sorry about the problem with Clayton's Honfleur recipe.  I understand the problem with overproofing...Been there, done that.  I keep a timer going and try to not let anything rise much more than double the original volume.  I also make notes and/or modifications right in the recipe(s) or in the margins of my baking/cook books...IN RED.

Hang in there, keep at it and good luck with your baking,  

Howard

foolishpoolish's picture
foolishpoolish

Nice looking rolls Howard and great alteration to the original recipe.

I only recently learned of the Bernard Clayton book. I saw the recipe index on Amazon's 'look inside' - it's chock-full! Definitely worthy of further investigation.

Good stuff!

FP

 

holds99's picture
holds99

I've had his book for a long time.  It's one of my old reliable favorites and he had such a variety of recipes. 

Glad you're back with us.

Howard