The Bakery at Mom's Hobby Farm: French baguettes

This year one of my Christmas gifts was a baguette pan from my daughter Nikole. Today I made a couple of loaves with the directions and recipe that came with the pan. It was a little time consuming as the dough raises twice, rests once and then raises again after shaping. It was a pretty easy recipe, kneaded in the stand mixer with the dough hook. The pan has small, closely spaced holes and a pan of water is placed in the oven to create steam during cooking.

Williams Sonoma's Crusty French Bread

2 cups warm water (100°)

1 tsp sugar

3 1/4 tsp dry yeast (I used quick rise)

5-5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 egg white slightly beaten with a pinch of salt

Combine the warm water and sugar in a small bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the yeast and stir gently to mix then wait 5 minutes for it to get foamy. Place 4 cups of flour and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and run the mixer on low to combine. Slowly add the yeast mixture and combine on low for one minute. Raise the mixer to low-medium and mix with the dough hook for 10 minutes adding the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time. (I used an additional one cup for 5 cups total.). The dough should be elastic and pull away from the side of the bowl.

Remove the dough from the mixer, knead for one minute and form into a ball. The directions say to knead on a lightly floured surface but I did not flour my counter top and my dough did not stick Place the dough into a bowl in which a dusting of flour has been added. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. I covered the plastic wrap with a kitchen towel and placed it in a warm spot in the kitchen to raise until double (45-60 minutes) When done with the first raise the dough is removed from the bowl, punched down and kneaded a couple of times, reshaped into a single ball and placed back in the bowl for the second raise. The bowl is again covered with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Allow to raise until double, about 20-30 minutes.

When the second raising is complete, turn the dough out and punch down again. Divide the dough into two equal portions and form into two balls. Allow to rest for five minutes. I covered my dough with a kitchen towel. Line the baguette pan with a kitchen towel that has been dusted with a small amount of flour. Shape each dough ball into a long loaf with tapered ends. The loaf should be about as long as the pan. Repeat with the second dough ball. Fold the extra toweling back over the dough and let it raise 20 minutes in a warm place.

Once raised, remove the towel with the formed baguettes from the pan. The directions said to spray the pan with cooking spray. I brushed on a thin layer of my homemade pan coat. Then use the towel to roll the dough back into the pan. Use a knife to make 3-5 shallow (1/4 inch deep) slashes on the tops of the loaves at a diagonal. brush the surface of the loaves with the egg white/salt mixture.

Place the pan in a oven that has been preheated to 425°. The rack should be at the bottom 1/3 of the oven and a pan of boiling water should be placed on the oven floor or the lowest rack. I used a cookie sheet on the bottom rack and the bread one level higher. I placed the empty cookie sheet in the oven, added the hot water and then place the baguettes in the oven. The recipe calls for them to bake for 30-35 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped. I baked mine for 30 minutes.