Kayser's baguettes "Monge"
These are the "famous" french baguettes from the Kayser bakery rue Monge in Paris.
I upped the hydration level, but didn't really calculate. The recipe here is the original and I don't know how it would work with american flour, so if anyone wants to try, keep an eye on the dough.
I also would leave them to rise a bit longer next time, but we were in a rush to go on a picnic (the fated one where I broke my pinky!) I thought the crumb should be a bit more open. They are really good, though. Obviously not sour because the sourdough doesn't have the time to react, but it sure gives great oven spring.
Baguettes "Monge"
500 g farine T65 (or maybe just white bread flour?)
100g liquide starter at it's peak
5g fresh yeast (or about 3/4 tsp fast acting package yeast I think)
10 g salt
270 ml water at 20°C
Mix the fresh yeast with water and leave 20 min to ferment.
Then make a regular dough using your method. Put the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rest 20 min.
Take the dough out and divide it into three pieces. Form three equal size balls and leave them on the counter to rise, covered with a damp cloth, 40 min.
Form three baguettes with pointed ends, place them in a baguette banneton or on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Cover with a damp cloth and let rise 1 1/2 hrs.
Preheat oven to 220°C. Sprinkle flour on the baguettes and do the incisions. Do the water thing (coup de buée) and place your baguettes in the oven.
Leave them to back around 20-25 minutes.
Comments
Hi, Jane. I have had your recipe for baguettes "Monge" on my kitchen counter since you posted it before. I have not gotten around to making it yet, however. Maybe this evening, if I get back from this afternoon's symphony concert with enough time left. David
Susan from San Diego
Man, that makes me hungry.
Janedo,
Thank you so much for this recipe; I made it this morning, only one left now! I had some of King Arthur's European style flour, so I used that instead of the T65. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and replaced 100 g with kamut as well. Other than that I stuck with your directions and the results were the best baguettes yet. The crumb was maybe a little tighter than most would prefer on a baguette because of the kamut, but only slightly, and they were still very light and chewy.
The only complaint in the house was the lack of real cheese (we live in rural coastal Maine) or perhaps some pate de campagne...
Thanks for the great directions!
edh
Kamut makes a tighter crumb but the nutty taste it gives is so yummy.
I'm glad you like them! They're nice and easy to make.
Jane
All my afternoon appointments cancelled, so I rushed home with enough time to make Jane's Baguettes "Monge."
First problem: My liquid starter was not only not "at its peak," it had a lovely layer of hooch on top. Hmmm ... My most recently fed, probably most active starter was a very firm starter that had been feed a week ago or so with First Clear flour. Scrap the project? Nah!
So I put 53 gms of my firm starter in the bowl with some water and mixed it. Then I added 270 ml of water, 500 gms of Guisto's Baker's Choice flour, 3 gms of instant yeast and 10 gms of salt. I mixed the dough and let it sit for 20 minutes, adding a bit more water to get the right dough consistency, then mixed it to window paning and let it rest for 10 minutes.
I rationalized that the starter I added, while not active, served as a "pate fermente," at least.
I then divided and preshaped and let it rest for 40 minutes.
I then shaped the baguettes and placed them on a parchment couche dusted liberally with semolina, covered with a damp cloth and let them proof for 90 minutes.
I set the oven for 500F and pre-heated my stone and skillet for an hour.
I loaded the loaves and poured water in the skillet. I spritzed the oven 3x in the first 5 minutes, then removed the skillet and turned the oven down to 450F and baked for a total of 20 minutes.
I got nice oven spring. Some of the cuts opened up nicely. Some didn't. (Scoring baguettes consistently is a skill still "under development" in my repertoire.)
Baguette
Baguette crumb
The result represents forward progress for me, but I still have an awful lot of room for improvement in my baguettes.
Another time I'll "really" make baguettes "Monge."
David
The problem I have with these baguettes is that I've NEVER tasted the original! So, I don't know if the crumb is supposed to be really open or more like ours (mine looked a lot like yours inside).
Baguettes traditonally have high hydration, so I think playing around with the water and rise time could make a more open crumb. I tried traditional baguettes with a poolish and the taste is much more bland. I love sourdough so much that ANY regular yeast bread nnow tastes like cardboard to me. So, these baguettes are a nice compromise for me.
In any case, your baguette looks VERY nice!!!
Hi, Jane.
I've never tasted Kayser's baguettes, either. To me, "classic" baguettes should be wheaty and sweet with no yeast flavor or smell. The crumb should be quite open. The crust should be thin and crisp.
Regarding your preference for sourdough: My wife toasted slices of these baguettes for breakfast this morning. When I asked her how it was, she said, "Good, but bland." So, I toasted some Polish Cottage Rye and Nury's Light Rye (both from Daniel Leader's "Local Breads"). They were good and anything but bland.
I'd still like to meet the challenge of baking excellent baguettes, but the truth is I prefer sourdough too. BTW, Reinhart's SF SD formula with which you have been working makes a good batard. Next time, I'm going to make baguettes with it. I'll post when I do.
How's the little finger?
David
I left out the embarrassing part about yesterday's baguette adventure.
As I only keep one starter, and it's stiff, so the night before I took enough out to give myself 100 g when fed 1:1:1. Of course, I have no idea how liquid a liquid levain is supposed to be, but that seemed pretty liquid to me!
Then, on top of that, I had no means of accurately measuring 270 ml, and as my brain had gone on vacation, it never occurred to me (until later of course) to weigh out 270 g of water.
Still not done messing up; kamut takes water up a little differently than wheat, but I didn't think of that either.
As a result I found myself kneading something that felt a lot like bagel dough. As I pummelled away at this solid mass, I said to myself "Self, you know perfectly well this is going to be a brick, and flour is too costly for brick making." So I did what I thought wasn't really possible; I splashed a random amount of water into the bowl, dropped the dough into it and smooshed for all I was worth. It actually worked; I ended up with a lovely dough that was slightly tacky, but had a wonderful softness and spring.
When I make these again I might up the hydration just a bit to see what happens.
On the other hand, they're all gone now...
edh
I do that all the time because sometimes I can't tell exactly what the hydration is like until the dough has really come together. So, I just start adding a little bit of water, a tiny bit at a time. It sloshes but mixes in, no problem!
The first time for most breads is a learning experience. If you make them again, show us a picture!
Jane
I'm embarrassed to admit that I still don't know how to post photos online. I know it's supposed to be very easy, or that's what everyone says, but I'm pretty computer-illiterate, and have never made the leap.
If they come out halfway decent, I'll take pictures and see if I can muddle my way through. Hard to believe an adult can be this intimidated by a machine...
On adding water to the already mixed dough; it just always looked like it wouldn't really mix in, but I know better now. I'll be adding water after the fact willy-nilly!
edh