Let Them Eat Bread

Today I have gone for one of my new favourites to bake.
The Baguette! Or at least the mini baguette.

The baguette for all of us will bring thoughts of France and the french baguette, history dictates that the baguette has been used in France from as long ago as the time of Louis XIV.

A Traditional Bakery

Back in the early 19th century the baguette was baked in a deck/steam oven. This Oven used various steam injections to create the proper baguette that we know today. Using my own conventional oven I generally fill a baking tray with water and leave it in the oven while the oven preheats. This creates enough steam for the inside of the baguette to be light and fluffy while having a nice shiny brown exterior.

The modern day professional Deck/Steam Oven 

In the beginning when I decided that I wanted to create my own baguette so they would be super fresh from the oven. I had limited amount of knowledge and due to this obviously there was some hiccups. When we say the word baguette we think of round, long and nicely crisp yes?
Well unfortunately for me the first time I did this it looked more like a Ciabatta...... Long, Flat and Hard. I do not have any pictures of this sorry event! I tried to find a google picture of one but it looks like nobody else felt confident to post pictures of there failed baguettes either and I am sure that I am not the only person in the world to have gotten this wrong!
So you are probably wondering what went wrong with my baguette...... Two things turned out to be the problem, firstly when it says in the recipe to grease a bowl lightly with oil use a bowl the oil actually sticks to and rub it on with tissue. The first bowl I used I rubbed it on with my hands and it all just kept sliding down to the bottom of the bowl in a puddle and sides remained dry......... Well I didn't know what I was doing so I persevered.
Unfortunately this lead to the ball of dough sitting in a puddle of oil and raising only slightly. The second problem was the recipe said to lay the baguette shaped dough in to baguette tins or onto a baking tray. I didn't have baguette tins so i lay them on a regular baking tray, this was a major fail, as my baguette grew and expanded they also flattened out.... In honesty they where flatter than Ciabattas by the time I went to put them in the oven, I did try to do some rescue and roll them back up together but it wasn't working. The end result tasted nice enough even if they where extremely crunchy and rather flat.
I think we where lucky to survive it with all our teeth still in tact!

So now to move onto how to create these successful baguettes.

Let them Eat Bread Video

Ingredients:
250g strong white flour
5g salt
5g fast action dryer yeast
30ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
180ml water

Tools needed:
Mixer with Dough hooks
Two Large Bowls
Cling film
Baguette Tray

Method:

• In a bowl add the flour with a 4 wells, for salt, yeast (Do not let the salt and the yeast touch before mixing), Oil and most of the water. 
• Using your mixing with the dough hooks start on a slow speed, adding the rest of the water until you have a smooth dough. This will take 3-5 minutes depending on your mixer. 
• Take a separate bowl and lightly oil the sides. Tip the Dough in here and leave to raise for 2 hours.
• The Dough will be roughly double in size. Lightly Oil a clean work surface and tip the dough out onto this. Dust your hands with some flour as necessary.
• Divide the Dough in two halves and begin to Knock back the dough, stretch and fold for 1-2 minutes roll out into a baguette shape and repeat with both halves.
• Place onto the baguette Tray and cover and leave to double in size. 
• Now Preheat your oven to 425˚F/218˚C in a non-fan oven place a roasting dish filled with water in the bottom to create steam.
• When baguettes are risen slash the top of each 3 times and place in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown with a slight shine. 

Voila! You have two perfect mini baguettes!