- Baker: Sophie Carey
- Makes: 8 Mini Baguettes
- Prep time: 45 Minutes
- Bake time: 20 Minutes
- Flours used: Matthews Belle Blanc T55 French Bread Flour
Rustic French Demi Baguettes Method:
1) In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients listed and mix just until a shaggy and sticky dough forms. Use a plastic bench scraper to scrape any dough down to avoid it drying out. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
2) Over the next 1 ½ hours, complete 3 sets of stretch and folds - this is just where you get under the dough and stretch it upwards, then fold it over itself. Sometimes it helps to do these with dampened hands, so the dough doesn’t stick.
3) Once the time is up and your stretch and folds are complete, cover the bowl and pop it into the fridge for at least 12 hours - but you could leave it for up to 18 hours.
4) After 12 hours. Gently tip the dough out onto a well-floured counter and use a bench scraper to divide the dough gently into 6-8 even pieces. Try not to disturb the dough too much here at all. Flour the dough again and cover carefully before leaving to rest for another 60 minutes.
5) Uncover the dough and carefully stretch each of the dough rectangles out slightly before beginning to roll the top edge down, creating a cylinder shape. Use your thumb to press the seam into the dough after each roll.
6) Take a couple of clean tea towels and flour them liberally. Place the shaped baguette onto the tea towel then create a fold or a pleat to separate the baguette from the next one you will place on the tea towel. For reference, look up images of ‘baguette couche’ - this is a fabric professional bakers use for this job that we are attempting to replicate at home.
7) Once all the baguettes are shaped and tucked into your tea towels, flour them again and cover. Leave them for their final rise for 30-45 minutes.
8) Switch the oven on to 220 degrees Celsius and pop the heaviest baking tray you have on the rack upside down to heat up. You also want to place a rolled-up tea towel in a deeper tray and fill it with warm water. Pop this on the bottom of the oven. This creates the perfect steamy environment for the baguettes to bake.
9) When the oven is heated to the correct temperature, remove the tray from the oven and top with a piece of baking paper (remember you need to be doing this to the bottom of the tray - it’s upside down!). Carefully slide a few of the baguettes onto the tray and use a bread lame or sharp knife to score a few cuts into the top of the baguette.
10) Return the tray to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then remove the tray of water and continue to bake the baguette for 10 minutes. Once golden-brown remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Repeat this process until all the baguettes are baked.
11) Serve the baguettes with plenty of salted butter for an authentic taste of France!
