baguette

This past weekend was spent close to hearth and home, escaping the wind, rain, and fog outside. January has been relatively dry (too dry), and rain was desperately needed on this coast. I’ve enjoyed the sunshine, but was so glad to welcome the rain that I went running outside, quieting my own inner thoughts by watching the stormy seas.

Once back inside, I decided to try baking a wheat baguette for the first time. From scratch. I have never tried making my own bread, and in NYC I was spoiled by being near Maison Kayser, where I discovered the Baguette Monge and realized what Colette meant by saying this in my favorite Pixar movie, Ratatouille:

“How do you tell how good bread is without tasting it? Not the smell, not the look, but the sound of the crust. Listen [bread crackles]. Oh, the symphony of crackle. Only good bread sound this way.”
I am not a huge bread-eater, but I can definitely appreciate a good crusty baguette, and there are certain dishes that beg for a freshly baked slice of bread to sop up the good flavors – cioppino, Vietnamese bo kho, mussels in saffron broth, shakshouka…

And so, here we go! My first attempt at a wheat baguette, based on Dan Leader’s 4-hr Baguette (perfect project for a rainy day):

Dan Leader’s 4 Hour Baguette (Wheat version)

For full step-by-step pictures go here.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups tap water, heated to 115° F
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour*
2 tsp kosher salt (3 tsp if using Diamond Crystal kosher salt, i.e. 3/8 oz)
Canola oil, for greasing bowl
1/2 cup ice cubes

Instructions:

Whisk together water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl; let sit until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes.
Add both flours, and stir with a spatula until dough forms and all flour is absorbed; let dough sit to allow flour to hydrate, about 20 minutes.
Add salt, then transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes
Transfer dough ball to a lightly greased bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and place bowl in a cold oven or microwave. Let dough rest until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and shape into an 8-inch x 6-inch rectangle. Fold the 8-inch sides toward the middle, then fold the shorter sides toward the center, like a T-shirt.
Return dough, seam side down, to the bowl. Cover with plastic again, and return to oven. Let sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Remove bowl with dough from oven, and place a cast–iron skillet or pan with oven-safe handle on the bottom rack of oven; position another rack above skillet, and place a baking stone or upside down or rimless sheet pan on it.
Heat oven to 475° F.
While oven is heating, transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and cut into three equal pieces; shape each piece into a 14-inch rope.
Flour a sheet of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet; place ropes, evenly spaced, on paper. Lift paper between ropes to form pleats; place two tightly rolled kitchen towels under long edges of paper, creating supports for the loaves. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let sit until it doubles in size, about 50 minutes.
Uncover; remove towels, and flatten paper to space out loaves. Using a sharp razor, knife, bread lame, or scissors, slash the top of each baguette at a 30–degree angle in four spots; each slash should be about 4 inches long.
Pull out the oven rack with the stone or baking sheet on it and, using the corner of the parchment paper as a guide, slide the loaves, still on the parchment paper, onto the baking stone or pan. Place ice cubes in skillet (this produces steam that lets the loaves rise fully before a crust forms).
Bake the baguettes until darkly browned and crisp, 20 to 30 minutes; cool before serving. Enjoy the symphony of the crackly crust!