Saturday was a landmark day for Two of a Kind: We had our first dinner party. Admittedly, it was a feast for four, but it was still significant to me. We welcomed our first houseguests (besides my mom, dad and brother) and I prepared a full-course meal from scratch. Rookie even warmed up to our friends after barking at and biting one of them. (Bad, Rookie!)
Aside from the attack, dinner was a success – and I owe it all to this French baguette. In my mind, it was the hero of the meal: a bruschetta bar with all the fixings. It was the base for which we piled on a smorgasbord of sauces (including saffron tomato confit and basil vinaigrette), meats and cheeses.
To make this French baguette, you need just three ingredients (yeast, flour and salt) and a bit of patience. While the dough comes together fairly quickly, it requires a few risings. So plan ahead. I started making my baguettes in the morning and they were out of the oven by lunchtime. Once cooled, you can tear into the bread and enjoy it plain or with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Or split, butter and stuff it with ham for an authentic Parisian sandwich.
Recipe adapted from Food52.
- 1½ cups lukewarm water
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons sea salt
- 4-5 ice cubes
- In a large bowl, whisk together water and yeast; let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add flour and stir to combine; let dough sit to allow flour to hydrate, about 20 minutes.
- Add salt to dough and transfer to a lightly floured work surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- After the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface and shape into an 8"x6" rectangle. Fold the 8" sides toward the middle; then fold the shorter sides toward the middle. Return dough, seam side down, to the bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- After the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface and cut it into two equal pieces. Shape each piece into a 16" log. Place logs in the wells of a baguette pan, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Place a large shallow pan on the bottom rack of your oven and position another rack above it. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
- After the loaves have doubled in size, uncover and, with a sharp knife, slash the top of each baguette at an angle in four spots.
- Once oven is preheated, toss 4-5 ice cubes into the shallow pan on the bottom rack and slide baguette pan onto rack above it. Bake baguettes until dark brown and crisp, 20-30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
Hi Alison — your recipe for French baquette sounds good and I’ll be trying it ……the 2nd pic shows 2 sliced baguettes (left & middle)….what’s on the right? Looks like a baguette, maybe a darker flour and raisins? Share the recipe?
Thank you, Carolyn! The bread on the right is a no-knead beer bread – I think I added some toasted walnuts to the dough. I baked both for a bruschetta bar. Enjoy!