Figs, Pecans, Baguettes and Batards
My recent fruit and nut bake garnered the suggestion from a few TFL folks that I should soak the dried Calmyrna figs prior to folding them into the dough. And so I did. I wonder if I soaked them too long because they expanded and became a force all of their own with relation to the final product.
This time I decided to bake the Hamelman Pain au Levain with WW, which I've baked several times before, while using my own levain dehydrated down to 60%. My standard levain has more whole grain than the Hamelman formula calls for, so it bumps up the overall whole grain percentage beyond the formula's 25% by a few additional points. A first time through this drill, as I've not added fruit and nuts to this formula before. With the addition of the plumped up figs the dough became difficult to shape as baguettes. In truth I should have shaped a shorter and fatter baguette, so I'll reconsider that for the next time, whenever that will be.
650g x 2 batards, 350g x 2 baguettes.
I don't add the figs and pecans until the first letter fold. On the left - the dough is spread out on a wetted countertop. On the right - the first step of the letter folds is applied.
Once folded, it looks like this, and you can easily see how much the fruit and nuts adds to the dough just 40 minutes after the bulk rise started.
The baguettes took on an odd shape. Although the bloom was sufficient, the look is goofy and inconsistent. I believe that the fruit and nuts played a major role on that front.
The girth of the batards kept the fruit and nut population in check while displaying a more consistent shape and scoring.
alan
Comments
They have their own personality, even if it is a bit "goofy" they still look good :)
im glad I have some idea of how awesome these probably taste.
Nice job Alan
Happy baking :)
The taste is a little flat as if it didn't have enough salt, but I'm pretty anal about scaling out ingredients, so I doubt that is a factor. It may be more linked to the idea that I'm not a big whole grain person. A little typically goes a long way for me. Still tasty, so I really don't have a lot to complain about.
alan
baguettes and batards Alan... with a nice bit of whole grains! Those figs and nuts get in the way of the blade but they still came out perfectly distinctive.- quite lovely actually. The taste has to be killer. No question these came out of your oven. Well done and happy baking.
some distinction to what emerges from my oven post-bake. I agree that the fruit and nuts serve as "speed bumps" during scoring. But at this stage, I don't have much issue with getting a good score most of the time. I've learned to either work around them or work through them pretty successfully. Most of the time my movement through the dough is pretty consistent.
Thanks, alan
And toss 'em. Enjoy the ones inside.
Baguettes have a higher crust:crumb ratio, which is an attraction if you are a crusty person. However, if the bread has inclusions that burn up if exposed to oven heat directly, a boule or bâtard is a better shape.
I have made baguettes with zante raisins. Those are small enough so it's easy to lose the burned up ones. Actually, it's been too long since I have made that zante raisin/pine nut/fennel seed baguette. It's wonderful. Unfortunately, my wife does not find it so.
David
Yes, I do so love the crust:crumb ratio. Right up my alley. But I surely did not pay appropriate attention to my own notes which call for a shorter & chubbier demi-baguette.
What I find strange is that when I us raisins, they have the tendency to pop out of the dough and become little black marbles. In this case, the figs basically stayed put but the pecans decided to take a walk on the wild side, and they are the jail-breakers who rose through the surface to become the blackened bits.
alan
I learned another lesson for bread with add-ins. I still don't know what figs taste like but I'm sure it's delicious. They're right too, just from the pictures I know that you are the one who made this.