Baguettes

Adam and Candice try not to breathe. They're currently hiding under a table at their local bakery and it is about to close. Candice turns to Adam and whispers, "I'm a little nervous, Adam, I don't think this is the best idea…" "Candice, look, I'm nervous too, but you have to trust me. The best bread is the bread baked fresh and lets be honest, we keep sleeping in once the bakery opens so it's never freshly baked! I need me some freshly baked bread!!!" "I know, I know, fine, we'll stay in the bakery overnight and wait for it to open..." They suddenly hear footsteps. The door to the bakery suddenly closes and clicks as the baker goes home for the night. "Woo, told you Candice, this is going to be great! At 5:00AM tomorrow, freshly baked bread, booya!" "OK..."

*6 hours later* Footsteps... Candice wakes up with a start. "Adam, ADAM! There's someone in the bakery! There's someone in the BAKERY!" Adam rubs his eyes, still half asleep. "Wha... There's noone here, Candice... There's noone..."

A deep voice suddenly calls out, "Hello, my friends! Can I interest you in some freshly baked baguettes!??" Adam and Candice pull themselves out from under the table and before them is an unbelievable site! "Magical laffa man!" They both exclaim!! (Refer to laffa bread recipe to see how Adam and Candice first came to meet magical laffa man).

The man standing there has a long dark beard and is in a set of parisian clothes. "No, my friends! That's my brother, magical laffa man. I am magical baguette man! Now, please! Have some baguettes!!" Adam and Candice turn to each other. Candice whispers, "I'm pretty sure that's magical laffa man..." Adam replies, "Who cares! I'm getting me a baguette!" "Here my friends, have some chicken liver parfait with it, on the house!" "YAY!" Adam and Candice both exclaim!

I'm sure you're all worrying at home, but don't worry, there were no criminal charges pressed on us staying at the bakery. And if you're looking for more adventures of magical baguette/laffa man... well, you're just going to have to keep following, because we're sure he's going to keep popping up!

Baguettes are delicious. We love a sandwich made out of this crunchy French bread. The recipe we liked comes from Judy Taubert. Hope you enjoy it!

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Baguettes
 
Servings                          
4
 
Prep Time:       02:30    
Cook Time:      00:20
 
Main Ingredients 

1 Cup of water
2 1/2 Cups of bread flour
1 Teaspoon of salt
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
7 grams of yeast (a packet)
1 Tbs of caster sugar

Preparation

1. Activate the yeast by putting it into a bowl with warm water and add the sugar. Cover with glad wrap and leave for 10 minutes.
2. In another bowl add the flour and the salt. Mix this together, so that it's thoroughly mixed.
3. Make a well in the bowl and add the water and yeast.
4. Kneed together for about 15 to 20 minutes. You want the dough to be slightly sticky, but to hold its shape. If you stretch it, you don't want it to tear. If it tears after kneeding, it means you need more liquid. If you tear off a little ball, this ball should be able to stretch and become see through, without tearing. At the same time if it's too sticky and won't form into a ball, add more flour. We used a kitchenaid for the kneeding process.
5. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover with glad wrap and wait for the dough to double in size. This will take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours.
6. Split the dough into 2 to 4 balls, depending on how many baguettes you want to make and how long you want them. You want to turn flatten each, pinch it to the center to seel. Refer to the brioche recipe for how to do this. Turn over and roll around until a nice, spherical ball. Repeat for each ball and then leave for 20 minutes to rest.
7. Making baguettes is a bit complicated, so refer to pictures. You want to flatten the dough first off. Then you want to fold the bottom of the flat dough to the half way mark. Afterwards, flip it over and repeat with the other side. It's best for the rest to refer to the following link for more instructions on how to do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRDL3lPQSkc
8. Transfer to baking tray with baking paper to rest and rise for a further hour.
9. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius.
10. Make 3 to 4 slits with a knife about 1-2cm deep, straight along the baguettes. In a small bowl, add some water. Paint the water onto the top of the baguettes.
11. Add tray with 1/2 cup of water to bottom of oven. Bake baguettes for 20 minutes. They should have a nice golden brown colour. Allow to cool! Finito!

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