Baguettes, Oui
I’ve been baking bread ever since I stumbled upon my grandfather’s recipe for buttermilk bread. His bread was a basic loaf but it sparked my love for all things fermentable. My love grew into brewing my own beer and baking bread was put on hold. I graduated college in 2010 and finances have become tighter since leaving school. It is more financially responsible to spend the money on baking bread than brewing suds. Although I desperately miss the smells that come with brewing a batch of homebrew, the smell of freshly baked bread has been a welcome substitute.
Last weekend I made a pate fermentee with the intention of baking baguettes. I made sure to take a portion of the dough and wrapped it tight for storage in the freezer. Thursday of this week I was struck with the urge to bake once again and withdrew the pre-ferment from the freezer to the refrigerator. I mixed up the dough on Friday and went through the motions of fermentation. The dough was shaped and then prepared to spend the night in the refrigerator. I wanted to develop a nice flavor profile so I retarded the dough over night and baked them today.
I will be sure to keep this blog current with my baking adventures; will soon be moving into sourdough.
Happy baking,
-Matthew