World Bread Day 2010

And now, in this very special occasion, I introduce you... the BAGUETTE (sort of...)!

Zorra has announced here the 5th World Bread Day and I'm very proud to partecipate (thank you Cindy for let me know ;) ).

And this is my little contribution for you all:

BAGUETTE con AUTOLISI

(qui trovate l'originale in italiano, thanks to Adriano Continisio: Adriano, you're my baking hero :) )

Ingredients:

250 g Manitoba flour (W300*)

250 g white flour (W250*)

315/350 g water

10 g salt

5 g yeast

Instructions:

At 4 p.m.

Knead 150 g of the Manitoba flour with 95 g of water in the mixer (a "heavy-duty" one, such a kenwood or a kitchenaid or similar) a vel. 1 for 5 minutes. Cover the dough.

Prepare a "biga": mix 100 g of the manitoba flour, 45 g of water, 1 g of yeast.

Let the two doughs overnight at 18°C (64°F).

At 8 a.m.

Dissolve 4 g of yeast into 100 g of lightly warm water, add 100 g of flour, cover and let rise at 26°C (79°F) for 1 1/2 hour.

Add the remaining flour, 75 g of water and mix at vel. 1 with the "leaf" (see the pics below), add the salt.

After some minutes, insert the "biga", at big chunks, and short after the other dough.

When you have a good dough, insert the hook and mix at vel. 1,5 for 3-5 minutes (until the dough will be smooth and shiny). Now, if you think necessary, insert the rest of the water (35 g), slowly.

Turn the dough on a floured surface and knead it for a couple of minutes. Cover for 45 minutes.

Fold the dough in three, as a envelope:

and let stand another 45 minutes.

Divide the dough in three and cover with a bowl (or a plastic film), let stand for 15 minutes.

Flatten very very gently the doughs in a square and then roll them up as you can see in the pics:

Form the baguette and let them rest in a floured dishcloth until doubled (60-90 minutes).

Heat the oven at 220°C with a bowl of water inside , slice the surface of the baguette with a blade and put them in the oven.

After 10 minutes remove the water and lower the temperature at 180°C

Cook for 15 minutes more and let them cool before serving.

Enjoy the World Bread Baking Day!

* the numbers represent the force of the flour, but usually you can find such information only in flours for professional use.