Caramelized Hazelnut Squares

When you have a lot of time on your hands and want to test yourself....this a good bread to try. I originally saw this bread posted at Wild Yeast when Susan was having a giveaway for the SFBI book Advanced Bread and Pastry. I was very taken by those beautiful pictures of Caramelized Hazelnut Squares. I entered the giveaway (twice) and counted the days till I would have the book in hand to start those beautiful hazelnut pillows....well....you know the ending...I did not win....but Susan was nice enough to send me a lengthy excel sheet with the formula and a few mixing notes. I had no idea what I was getting into! I started with the preferments which consisted of 2 stiff levain and 2 stiff sponges that eventually got added to a very wet dough....I was totally over my head on this one! I did not have the detailed instructions that were in the book but I proceeded to work my may through her excel sheet and put it together following her advise "think of it as  ciabata with nuts". After several folds with wet hands and a scraper and lots of flour on the bench...I managed to get it off the bench and into the oven...what you can not see is the part that oozed off the hearth and formed on the oven rack!

When I finally pulled them from the oven, a smile came to my face and patted myself on the back! The flour encrusted loaves reminded me of the snow that had just dusted the ground. I have to be honest...I could not wait for them to cool...The first taste I had was with a smear of Nutella ummmm. It does not get much better than that...except for the second tasting which was a slice of brie on the still warm bread. I have to add...I  just broke down and ordered the book today to see what the recipe really said...