Hot Fresh Loaves

My wonderful beautiful mother, KathysIrishRed, came to visit me earlier in the summer. While she was here we baked one of my latest baking obsessions: baguettes. It all started when a friend turned me onto this blog and Foodiefarmgirl's amazing beer bread. From there I drifted to French Women Don't Get Fat and the recipe the author provides for baguettes. My first attempts were solid on flavor but lacked the right texture. I then followed Foodiefarmgirl's advice for bread making technique and got the texture, but lost some of the original flavor. Meanwhile, my mother had been plotting to send me a special baguette pan to help me in my endeavors, but couldn't actually locate one.

This past weekend, all elements came together to make two beautiful loaves:
You can see in this photo the perforated, loaf-shaped baguette pans my mother ordered from William Sonoma. They maintain the shape and integrity of the loaf through the final rest, rising, and baking. I baked the loaves in the pan on top of a pizza stone (per Foodiefarmgirl). The holes in the bottom allow the heat to transfer and actually bake the bottom of the loaf to a golden sheen. Other elements adding to my success were: the use of a kitchen scale rather than measuring cups (mush more accurate), and using my kitchen aid to do the kneading. I incorporate too much flour when I knead, I'm better off letting the machine do it for me. Weighing ingredients and using thermometers make it feel a little more like chemistry lab and less like my kitchen as an artists canvas... but the accuracy has even a spontaneous cook like me sold - at least for bread... and maybe some meat prep.

Anyway, for any bakers who read this blog, I highly recommend the baguette pans. They work wonderfully and the recipe that comes with them is solid. I served them at dinner the other night and garnered compliments from Mr. Wonderful,S, and ReallyTiny et son ami.

(my beautiful golden bottom - more golden than my real one could ever be...)