Posted in Lean Doughs on Aug 2nd, 2008
When it comes to pain au levain, I have to admit that I am a bit of a snob. Why else would I call it pain au levain rather than sourdough bread, as most people do? I’ve never much cared for the name “sourdough”. Once something carries that moniker, all sorts of lip-puckering, eye-watering attributes are […]
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Posted in Rich Doughs, Techniques on Jul 12th, 2008
If I had to choose one bread whose aroma while baking consistently makes my mouth water, it would have to be cinnamon raisin bread. Unlike baguettes or pan de campagne, which are made from lean doughs (i.e., doughs with little or no fat), cinnamon raisin bread is made from a rich dough. The fat used […]
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Posted in Lean Doughs, Techniques on Jul 7th, 2008
Pain de campagne, or “country bread”, is bread baked in the style of the rustic loaves found throughout the French countryside. There really is no one correct way to bake a pain de campagne loaf; the formulae are as varied as the traditional ways of shaping the loaves. Pain de campagne can be made with a natural leaven […]
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Posted in Lean Doughs, Techniques on Jun 28th, 2008
It’s been said that the baguette, although one of the simplest breads (being comprised of only flour, water, yeast and salt), is perhaps the most difficult bread to make well. A good baguette has a thin, crisp crust, a light and airy crumb having a distribution of both large and small air pockets (alveoli), and a slightly […]
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