During botanical week of the Great British Bake Off, the technical challenge was to bake a fougasse. Traditionally a leaf shaped bread, quite similar to an Italian focaccia. Tom Gilliford one of the contestants declared ‘I love fougasse. It’s actually my cinema snack !’. Which spawned a lot of amusement on Twitter and brought this little known bread into the public eye. Instagram and Pinterest have been flooded with everyone’s new favourite cinema snack.
Staying on the Great British Bake Off theme, I also saw a previous contestant Richard Burr post a fougasse Halloween themed bread. So I thought it was time I gave it a go. Historically bread has been my nemesis but these came out a treat. As always I like to tweak recipes a little and added some dried mixed herbs and also used some good quality Maldon sea salt (I am from Essex after all!).
Makes: 4 small loaves
Oven Temp: Gas 7, 425F, 220C (200C Fan)
Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour (plus more for dusting)
2 teaspoons salt
7g fast acting yeast (1 sachet)
375ml water
2 tbsp olive oil
Olive oil spray
Maldon sea salt
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
2 large baking sheets
Instructions
1.Put all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a mixer. Keep the salt and yeast on opposite sides so that the salt does not retard the yeast.
2.Add the oil and the water to the bowl. Mix with a spoon to bring together the ingredients.
3.Mix with a dough hook for about 10 minutes. The dough will be very wet
4.Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and prove in a warm place for about a hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
5.Put plenty of flour onto the work surface and tip out the dough. I use a plastic dough scraper to make this easier. You want to keep as many bubbles in the dough as possible so treat it gently. Then sprinkle plenty of flour on the top.
6.Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into quarters.
7.Carefully lift each quarter onto the baking trays so there are two on each tray.
8.Cut eyes, a nose and a mouth into each piece of dough. This is tricky as the dough is quite wet. Open out these holes by gently pulling the dough into the shape you want.
9.Cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for 20 minutes.
10.Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C.
11.Spray the dough with olive oil or gently brush some oil on. Then sprinkle with the sea salt
12.Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown
Adapted from a recipe by Richard Burr
- Oven Temp: Gas 7, 425F, 220C (200C Fan)
- 500g strong white bread flour (plus more for dusting)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 7g fast acting yeast (1 sachet)
- 375ml water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Olive oil spray
- Maldon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
- 2 large baking sheets
- Instructions
- Put all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a mixer. Keep the salt and yeast on opposite sides so that the salt does not retard the yeast.
- Add the oil and the water to the bowl. Mix with a spoon to bring together the ingredients.
- Mix with a dough hook for about 10 minutes. The dough will be very wet
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and prove in a warm place for about a hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
- Put plenty of flour onto the work surface and tip out the dough. I use a plastic dough scraper to make this easier. You want to keep as many bubbles in the dough as possible so treat it gently. Then sprinkle plenty of flour on the top.
- Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into quarters.
- Carefully lift each quarter onto the baking trays so there are two on each tray.
- Cut eyes, a nose and a mouth into each piece of dough. This is tricky as the dough is quite wet. Open out these holes by gently pulling the dough into the shape you want.
- Cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C.
- Spray the dough with olive oil or gently brush some oil on. Then sprinkle with the sea salt
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown
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