Rustic crust and crumb
I remember rustic bread from "Bread" being a staple in my kitchen before I got started with levains and sourdough breads. It's a clean, wholesome bread, and it's over a year since I'd made his rustic bread, so the time was ripe for another attempt.
I wanted to try some different shapes as well, so I divided the dough in two, both weighing 750 gr. each. One was shaped as an ordinary batard, and the other piece was cut into smaller dough chunks, and shaped into mini-batards and the tabatiere and pain d'Aix shapes shown in ABAP.
Below are two shots of the bakes: Front left are some mini-batards rolled in flax, sesame and oat bran. To the right, at the very back is the tabatiere, and in front of that, the pain d'Aix shape. Fun to make, and nice to mix things up a bit :)
I had certainly forgotten how nice this formula is. I think it more or less equals many pain au levain recipes - absolutely delicious with a thin layer of honey and a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
Comments
I have much to learn :)
And beautiful and interesting shapes! I just looked up this recipe - I like how the posts here take me through this book (which I have not had for too long yet). This is more along the type of bread I was baking before getting into this new sourdough world. I'll certainly give this specific recipe a try at some point.
I especially like your shaping of the "mini bâtards" - lovely.
David
You have discribed this bread beautifully..clean and wholesome...you formed them "stellar", Hans! A real keeper. I have been back to baking more with pre-ferment, poolish and bigas made with yeast... They can have the most delicious flavor and textures.
Sylvia
All of those loaves are little works of art. Your shaping is superb!
Thanks for those nice compliments, everyone!
Sylvia: Yes, me too! I've been reading a bit about French bakers and baking, and noticed how many of them strongly advocate poolish or pate fermentee as an alternative to sourdough.
I make most of my breads with a poolish or or pate fermentee rather than a sourdough starter. I am not a big big fan of sour sourdoughs and since I can't feed a sourdough starter on a 6 times a day schedule without special effort I have come to use a poolish for most of my breads. I am very happy with the results. I was teaching blacksmithing last week at a school where there also was a bread making class. I don't think they made any of their breads with a pre-ferment = rather sorry tasting breads by my way of thinking. (tasting)
Dave
I love the pointy shape...is it called pain d'Aix shape? Just learned a new term! I'm eating with my eyes right now!
Hi M2,
Those pointy small things are the mini-batards. The pain d'Aix shape isn't very well shown on the photos I'm afraid; it's the one to the right, second from the back. It's shaped like a bow tie - somehow connected to a dress code at the university in Aix-en-Provence :)
oooh...thanks hans ;) I love the batard shape! I've tried to shape the end like that but the dough always seems to relax a bit in the proofing stage and ended up in round shape.
Your "minis" look wonderful and your shaping is so precise! I have a batch of Hamelman's Rustic Bread rising right now, but it seems too wet to make such lovely shapes... Does the dough seem wet when you are making it?
My last batch was absolutely delicious, great flavor and holey crumb, but the shape wasn't nearly as nice as yours. I thought about adding more flour but I wanted to make a second try of it without altering anything to see if it was still very wet, and it is. Maybe I will work it a little more before the final shaping to strengthen it up a little bit...
Thanks for sharing, and again, great job on the minis especially -- they look professional!
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
And thanks so much! :)
The dough was slightly sticky but not wet. A slight dusting of the table top and my hands prevented any serious sticking as I was working with the dough.
The dough should be sticky and a bit messy during the first minutes of mixing, but when you increase the speed, it should quickly come together and not cling to the sides of the bowl anymore. Did you follow the mixing instructions as in the book? With this dough, I'm trying to aim for a dough that sticks to the bottom of the bowl, but just lets go of the sides.
Try to work it a little bit more, and let us know how it turns out! Best of luck :)
Thanks for the guidance. My first batch was more like a ciabatta dough, though I did follow the directions regarding timing, it never left the sides of the bowl and I didn't want to overmix it. Folding was messy. It came out VERY holey, more than I expected. Second batch was similar, but I kneaded it just a bit by hand afterwards, working in a little flour and that firmed it up a bit and easier to shape, but naturally the crumb was firmer with fewer of the large, irregular holes... Fortunately the flavor was good on both! On to batch three, and I think I'll hold back a little of the water and watch it closely. I didn't photograph the first, but here's the 2nd:
Any comments or suggestions appreciated!
Thanks again,
Mandy