{"id":126,"date":"2008-11-02T05:59:39","date_gmt":"2008-11-02T10:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.breadcetera.com\/?p=126"},"modified":"2010-02-26T15:09:17","modified_gmt":"2010-02-26T20:09:17","slug":"pain-normande","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.breadcetera.com\/?p=126","title":{"rendered":"Pain Normand"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For those of you who are?regular readers of this blog, you may have surmised that I am not a real big fan of heavily flavored breads.??To me, the essence of bread baking is finding new ways to coax out the natural flavor of the wheat or whatever?grain?is being used.? Save the ‘blend-ins’ for ice cream,?cakes and cookies.? One notable exception to this proclivity is pain Normand, an apple-flavored bread named for the apple-producing Normandie region of France.? Apple cider and small pieces?of dried apple are what give this bread its?subtle apple flavor without any?cloyingly sweetness.<\/p>\n

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The formula used here is a modification of the one described?in?Hamelman’s Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes<\/a>.? To?my way of thinking, pain Normand is?a specialty bread, more?suited?as an accompaniment to, say,?an after-dinner fruit and cheese platter?than as an everyday table bread, such as a baguette or a pain au levain.? As such, I decided to halve the formula and produce two smaller loaves?instead of the two large, 840 g?loaves called for in the original formula.? I also went with?hard (alcoholic) cider rather than the recommended unpasteurized, unfiltered cider?because I was looking for a less sweet, crisper flavor.? For all you purists out there, I admit to using store-bought dried apples rather than drying my own fresh apples for expediency’s sake.<\/p>\n

Final Dough<\/strong><\/p>\n