YEASTLY TALES;DARING BAKERS with JULIA CHILD’S FRENCH LOAF!
“Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven.”
Yiddish Proverb
Julia Child’s French Loaf…
The 29th is finally here…it’s been such a looooooooong wait!
Presenting this month’s Daring Bakers challenge…‘Julia Child’s French Loaf’…hosted by Breadchicks Mary (The Sour Dough) & Sara (I Like to Cook). Did it evoke some response or what? There were pages & pages of comments (126 at last count) – quite a few understandably anxious & panicky (like me) & others over the moon (???). I procrastinated for long, very unlike me, because baking & me are mutually inseparable. Then read up posts & updates & websites…finally got some gentle inspiration from Dharm. The mind was made up. On the 12th of Feb DH was off to Dubai for a day & I had the whole day to overcome my battle with yeast. PHEW…sure it took all day, right from kneading from 8 in the morning! But the yeast worked & the ‘first rising’ rose & with it my spirits. I followed Dharm’s words…at least read the recipe twice – I read it thrice for good measure (once at soccer league, next dozing off at night & then at the bus stop in the morning). I could feel the panic attack but I suppressed it…just a loaf huh? Even made a table to fill in timings & generally keep a track of the steps…learning French en route!!
Scribblings of the baking kinds…
Simple rustic beauty …Pain Francais (French Bread)The recipe is all of 18 pages long (yes, eighteen) & can be found here at Breadchick Mary’s blog . Great selection Mary & Sara…the ‘Breadchicks that ROCK’, & many thanks for the challenge…my yeastly confidence increased in leaps & bounds, & I picked up some French words that I can possibly share with bakers alone! Do stop by HERE & check out the other Daring Bakers posts for the February challenge.
A couple of pictures I took along the way…
Step 3: First Rising – premier pointage temps
Step 6: Forming the loaves – la tourne; lamise en forme des patons
Final frontier…2-3 hours cooling period!
“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a ‘What the hell?’ attitude.”
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
41 Comments
Gigi
Lovely bread, it looks so professional! Great job!
Shilpa
Wow…looks beautiful Deeba. Lovely..they are perfect.
Purnima
The buns look terrific -perfect to shape n color(so many hrs put into punching dough at intervals!)lovely collage, take a Sigma 6 for the neatness+Chart noting timings as in ISO!! You ROCK with any recipeeees!!
amandalwh
Yum yum! *grab a loaf* those so deliciously crusty! 😀
Joy the Baker
Wonderful work! You’ve done beautiful work with the yeast! Bravo.
Dharm
Deeba! I”m so glad it worked out well for you. Actually, I have to say it didn’t work out well – it worked out GREAT!! That is some superb looking French Bread!! Well Done!! and thanks for the mention 🙂
Aparna
Your loaves have turned real good, you should see mine.
I’m glad you seem to have gotten over your fear of yeast. See, all you had to do was give it a try.
Rachel
Wow those look lovely! Very rustic looking pics!
Rosa's Yummy Yums
Your breads look gorgeous! That golden crust is fabulous! Well done!
Cheers,
Rosa
Pixie
Lovely post and your bread looks magnificent. Well done!
Dhanggit
gorgeous french bread!! well done for this month’s challenge 🙂 love the way the crust is done..the color looks really great!!
Asha
Love it! This is the 3rd loaf I am seeing today!:)
Ann
WOW! Your breads are GORGEOUS! Did you use the simulated baker’s oven method?
Ann at Redacted Recipes
Meeta
Deeba! Fantastic job on the french bread – très bien!! They look great!
Bellini Valli
Deeba your loaves are a thing of beauty. I knew you would “rise” to the challenge of this daunting recipe.Glad that Dharm talked you into it 😀
Anne
The loaves are absolutely beautiful! It’s perfect 🙂
Big Boys Oven
oh your bread looks so cute and beautiful!
arundati
what a table that must be!! laden with these luscious loaves!! can i stay for dinner??
Mandy
your breads turn out great. Deeba! Is that your handwriting on one of the photo? They look neat and nice~
Kalai
They look professional!!! Wow! Kudos to you! 🙂
Cakespy
Gosh, what can I say!? This looks wonderful, and nice to see a little homage to Dame Julia! I adore her and her quirky ways.
Jenny
Very nice!! I love the different sizes you chose to do. It was a fun challenge.
Ben
Great looking loaves! It was a fun challenge, wasn’t it? Intimidating at first, but at the end very fulfilling. I did have to try two times, though. But at the end I learned something new. Congratulations!
Mansi Desai
looks like that turned out great for you Deeba:) didn’t expect anything less from a professioinal baker like you:)D
bee
fantastic rust. i bet they were light and wonderful in flavour and texture.
Lisa
More delicious bread! You daring bakers sure do tempt your audience. Just perfect!
Mer
Looks great, Deeba! Good job. :0)
marias23
Great pictures and hey, there’s no harm in learning some French any time 🙂 And that “leg of mutton”comment? Very cuuute! Hahaha!
Gretchen Noelle
What wonderful looking bread! You did a fantastic job on this month’s challenge!! I love the towel imprints and those rounds are simply adorable!
Jaime
great job! your loaves look beautiful and i love the props you used for the photos 🙂
my food affair
your breads are absolutely beautiful!! what a beautiful golden brown you got on them. Great job!! -kk
Annemarie
Your round loaves are B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. I’d spend good money on those in a bakery. 🙂 I also found Dharm’s advice really helpful and calmed (most of) my nervousenss about the task.
kellypea
Everything about your bread, your photos, and this post is terrific! Congrats to you for suppressing your panic and doing such an amazing job! I love the info about Julia at the end. Very nice.
breadchick
Well I’ll say you knocked this right of the park! Absolutely fantastic bread and great post.
Thanks so much for baking with Sara and I!
Cakelaw
Great looking bread – yours rose well after shaping – I am envious. Love the quote from Julia Child – I will embrace it!
jasmine
Ces sont magnifiques!
Great job–loved the snapshot of your kitchen diary. Mind isn’t nearly as organised…I’m lucky if I write down quantities…
j
Passionate baker...& beyond
BIG THANKS TO ALL YOU FOLK WHO DROPPED BY & FOR YOUR WONDERFUL COMMENTS! Esp for Breadchick Mary…you made it happen!!
Passionate baker...& beyond
BIG THANKS TO ALL YOU FOLK WHO DROPPED BY & FOR YOUR WONDERFUL COMMENTS! Esp for Breadchick Mary…you made it happen!!
PAT A BAKE
Hi…great lookin bread. I had put in a big comment for you.. Must have got lost :). Pls visit my blog when you have the time.
cookworm
Your bread looks really fantastic! I love your Julia quote, too. 🙂
Barbara
Fabulous result. Love the cupcakes too.