Renny Darling's

 

The Joy of Eating French Food

Easiest & Best French Bread
(Baguettes)

After a good deal of experimenting, I have developed a way to make the best French bread--crisp, crusty and chewy--AND without your having to knead it (or even touch it, for that matter). I am thrilled to share this little treasure with you and I hope you use it often. The bread is simply delicious. You do need a heavy duty mixer and a 3-loaf Baguette pan and the rest is easy.

1 package dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water (100° to 103°)

1 1/4 cups warm water (100° to 103°)
3 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg, beaten

In a glass measuring cup, stir together yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup warm water. Allow to stand until foamy. This is called "proofing the yeast" and if it does not foam, yeast is not active and should be discarded.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, place yeast mixture, additional water, flour and salt, and beat mixture for about 5 to 7 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be very soft and sticky. Drizzle the oil evenly over the dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and then a towel and set it in a warm place (75° to 80°) until it is doubled in bulk. With a spatula, scrape dough down into the bowl, cover it as before and let it rise again until doubled.

Grease a 3-loaf Baguette pan, 8 1/2 x 17-inches. With a large kitchen spoon, scoop out 1/3 of the dough in each section and spread it out evenly. Brush tops with a little oil. Cover pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise again until almost doubled. Remove plastic wrap, baste tops lightly with beaten egg and bake in a preheated 425° oven until tops are a beautiful golden brown and breads sound hollow when thumped, about 25 minutes. Remove breads from pan and allow to cool on a rack. Yields 3 loaves.

Note: -At any point, dough can be refrigerated to hold back the rising. Removefrom the refrigerator,
and then continue the rising as indicated.
-Traditionally, an oven is steamed to get a golden crisp crust, but the egg works very well, and it is a bit easier.

page 14

Menu Place an Order

The entire contents of this Web site are copyrighted and protected by
both United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions.
None of the text in this Web site may ever be reproduced, in
original or modified form, for any commercial or other purposes,
without express written permission by Renny Darling.