Fougasse

Hmm, this is the first lot of bread I've done recently that didn't go completely according to plan. I mean, it didn't go horribly wrong either; I turned out some reasonable bread by the end, but it did look a little like a bomb had hit the kitchen in the meantime.

You would also have thought I could have coped with a simple white bread dough, which is what this one was made of. The name fougasse relates to the shape, which is of a leaf. The main difference this time round to the stuff I've done before was that I was trying out the "French" method for working the dough. Firstly, this involves using rather a sticky dough. Secondly, you're not to use any flour or oil on your worktop to prevent the dough from sticking. Thirdly, you don't knead; you use your spread fingers to lift up the dough and then you forcibly slap a portion of it onto the work surface and then fold the other half on top. This action serves to stretch the dough (the slapping) and to trap air (the folding). It's a lot easier on the arms that the kneading method and can actually be quicker, if you get your technique right.


Actually, that bit didn't go particularly badly. It was lucky that no one else was in the house because it was rather noisey, but the dough began to get smoother and stick to the table slightly less. Or at least, it did until I let it sit there for a few seconds, at which point it would again begin to spread. Still, I got it in a bowl and started it proving. The house was so cold that the dough did absolutely nothing for about the first hour until I snuggled it up with my wheat bag. 


So after about 2 hours of proving it had about doubled in size. I gently coaxed it out of the bowl with a scraper and onto a well-floured surface. Possibly not well-floured enough because it carried on spreading and sticking to the worktop. I then attempted to cut it into 6 pieces to form into leaf shapes. With my scraper. Gargh! The damn stuff wouldn't stop sticking together and the scraper really didn't have a sharp enough edge. I got quite shirty with it all. Flour everywhere, temper threatening to launch dough over the ceiling... but I held it together and finished 6 leaves, enough if they weren't that pretty.


The bread itself was ok... ish,  but went chewy pretty quickly. Best eaten warm, I'm say. Mixed results with this bready attempt. I'll see if the French method goes any better for me with a different shape of bread.


Simplified recipe
500g strong white bread flour
10g fresh yeast
10g salt
350g water

1. Place the flour and the yeast into a large mixing bowl and rub the yeast into the flour with your fingertips
2. Add the salt and the water to the bowl and combine until a coherent dough forms; around 2-3 minutes
3. Work the dough on an un-floured until it becomes "smooth, firm-but-wobbly and responsive"
4. Place the dough in a bowl, cover and allow to prove until doubled in size
5. Carefully scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a well-floured surface and spread it into a rough square shape. Use a knife or scraper to cut the dough into 6 rectangular pieces. Try to be delicate with the dough
6. Use a knife or scraper to cut large slashes into the dough to create a leaf pattern. Make the wholes quite big as they will close up when the dough begins to rise in the oven
7. Preheat the oven at 230 degrees C. If you have a baking stone and peel, you can transfer your fougasse to the oven using a lightly-floured peel. I don't and found it much easier to place the rectangles onto baking trays before making the cuts. But I'm not a professional baker so that might be why. Bake the fougasse for 10-12 minutes or until golden

References

Dough, Richard Bertinet, Kyle Books, 2005