The fourteenth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) was French Bread, and is found on pages 168-171.
This was another of the two-day breads, where you make pâte fermentée the day before you want to make the bread so that it can sit in the refrigerator overnight to enhance the growth of the dough, giving it better flavor and texture, etc. After being stymied by the Focaccia, I just got busy making the next three breads so that I could get caught up with things around BBA Slow & Steady.
This bread was fun, easy, and turned out very nicely for a first attempt. I think my loaves need a little work in their presentation, but all in all, we were all happy with the results. The flavor was very good.
I must admit I was feeling a little defeated when I first started as I had read in Julia Child's biography about how she made hundreds and hundreds of loaves of French Bread trying to perfect it and get it to equal as close to that she could buy in France as she could. I was figuring my chances were not that great on just the one time beginner status. However, all credit due to this book and the recipes in it, I had three really nice baguettes when I finished, very exciting! Will make this often as it is much easier and tastier than one would think, and much better than I can get at the stores around me.
I must admit I was feeling a little defeated when I first started as I had read in Julia Child's biography about how she made hundreds and hundreds of loaves of French Bread trying to perfect it and get it to equal as close to that she could buy in France as she could. I was figuring my chances were not that great on just the one time beginner status. However, all credit due to this book and the recipes in it, I had three really nice baguettes when I finished, very exciting! Will make this often as it is much easier and tastier than one would think, and much better than I can get at the stores around me.
Nancy, Cathy, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah, Di, Leslie, Margaret and I are baking and posting every other week to better fit into our schedules. If you would like to see their French Bread, click on their names and visit their sites in the next few days, or you can visit the main group and marvel how they are so far ahead of us. We'll get there...Slow and Steady. Our next challenge: Italian Bread, found on pages 172-173.
