I baked a wholemeal oaty delicious soda bread as it was the signature challenge at GBBO, but decided to bake the technical challenge too. I tried to bake before the show and maybe bake again after the show, when I learn a thing or two on the best way to bake the goodies.
When the show started on TV, I had my baguettes ready on the table to have a late dinner while watching the show. Give me a follow on Instagram if you want to see the bakes before they are on the blog.
I’ve made the traditional baguette recipe, with the 4 hours wait for the yeast to activate before making the dough. I saw that the bakers had only 2 hours and this made me think. I’m going to bake baguettes again, but in a 2.5 hours by using a method I use when I bake bread. Is quite obvious I love bread.
Ingredients for 2 baguettes:
– 200g white plain flour
– 300g white strong flour
– 300ml lukewarm water
– 7g fast-action yeast
– salt
Mix the flour together and leave half of it on bowl. Mix 1/2 of teaspoon of yeast with the water in the other half until is a smooth batter. Cover it with cling film and leave it for 4 hours to rise. The yeast will create bubbles on the surface.
After the long wait, add a spoon of lukewarm water and mix the batter.
In the other bowl, mix the remaining yeast with the salt. In the batter add the dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing it with a big spoon. When the batter is too thick, flip it onto a lightly floured worktop and incorporate the rest of the flour mixture by hand.
Knead the bread for 10 minutes, put it back in a floured bowl and cover it with clingfilm. Leave it to rise for 1 hour or until it’s doubled in size.
Dust the worktop and your hands and turn the ball of dough on the surface without handling it too much. Cut the dough in two. Cover the two balls of dough with a tea towel and leave them for 15 minutes.
Take one of the balls and flatten it with a rolling pin on a floured surface until it is 25 x 30 cm. Roll the dough tightly on the long side. Roll the dough back and forward until it’s a long baguette. Tuck in the ends and pinch the sim together. Repeat with the second loaf
Put a large tea towel on a baking tray and sprinkle flour on it. Lift the loafs with care and put them on the towel, make a pleat between them. Use rolling pins and cans to make a barrier and support. Cover it with cling film or another tea towel. Leave it to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat the oven at 230C/210C fan.
When the baguette is ready to be baked, roll it with care on a pre-heated baking tray covered with a baking parchment.
Brush salty water on the loafs and cut with a sharp knife the crust in diagonal. Bake it for 20 minutes along with water in a small baking tray in the oven. The steam will create the crisp crust.
Put the loafs on a cooling rack and wait for 10 minutes. The bread is ready to be served.
I hope you liked my recipe.
Your baguettes look so yummy and crisp. I found them to be quite a tricky beast to make.
Angela x
Thank you x I know, they are quite tricky. I want to bake them again, until I’m happy I can bake them anytime 🙂
your baguettes look lovely – so golden and crispy! thank you for linking x
You make it look so simple, I failed big time. They look delicious x
Bread is tricky to make, but if you practice, it will be great. I had a disaster this weekend with a sweet bread, but I’m going to blog about it :))
I love how you set your post first of all, all the photos are a big help 🙂 your baguettes look really good I would’nt even attempt a gluten free one! It’d never look like this!
Thank you Hannah. I’m not sure how the gluten free would be. Is something I would like to try, never have the chance to do 🙂
Beautiful looking baguettes Anca – I want to give these a go when I have a little more time!
Thank you x They are great, even though it takes a long time to make them. I hope you’ll like them too.
You’re so brave to try baguettes! I’d like to but would be terrified I’d ruin them! #gbbo