Comments on: Pain à l’Ancienne

By: Janice

Janice — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:24:30 +0000

Oggi, I am too jealous! And, yes, Cindy, practice will make perfect, I’m sure.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:35:48 +0000

I agree, this recipe is worth making again and again! Eventually we will perfect it. Your dark loaves look amazing!

By: Oggi

Oggi — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:54:49 +0000

I love the color and crumb of the “twigs”.

Like Daniel I thought this is the easiest recipe to make so far; beginner’s luck maybe?:-)

By: Janice

Janice — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:01:34 +0000

Thanks, Hélène! Looking forward to your post on it.

By: Hélène

Hélène — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:49:17 +0000

Turned out really nice. Can’t wait to make this bread. I think I’ll make boules and pizza with the dough.

By: Janice

Janice — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:57:58 +0000

Yes, Daniel, I do seem to recall that you thought this dough was easy! I think I would like boules better (how fun is that to say?) since these reminded me of twigs . . . got it for next time, floured hands!

Danielle, using my peel is a great idea. Thanks!

Yes, Mags, I loved your pizza post. Read it before I made this bread and thought, at least I know what to do if it drives me too crazy!

By: Mags

Mags — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:13:31 +0000

I think we just need more practice at working with this type of dough Janice. At least you didn’t have to resort to making pizza like I did…lol.

Great job!

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:19:48 +0000

Your bread looks lovely, holes or no! I had the same disappointment with my Ciabatta (small holes) but I’m excited to do it again. Perhaps a peel or the back of a tray might have helped minimize the sagging when transferring the baguettes to the baking sheet?

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:00:08 +0000

Guilty as charged! I remember tweeting you that the bread is the easiest in the book.

I think your loaves came out awesome! The darker ones are better, but even the crumb looks good.

I like this bread so much partly because you sort of do it and forget about it. Some tips, though. Make sure your hands are very floured any time you handle the dough, and make sure to use extra flour if you need to. The dough has such high hydration that it’s really okay. Last, I usually shape this bread into boules (again, floured hands), as I soon grew tired of the baguette shape, and it’s just faster. And, yes, the darker the better.