Sunday, May 23, 2010

Pain de Campagne: Baking Through The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Boy, this is quickly turning into a vegan baking blog. Well, I guess that just reflects where all my culinary energy is these days. Baking through The Bread Baker's Apprentice has turned me into more of a baking enthusiast than ever before. There has not been a single recipe that I have not been able to veganize, which makes me realize how overrated eggs are in baking. Yes, vegan baking is delicious and diverse.

So, on to the bread at hand. I thought I would enjoy this loaf much more than I did. It uses pate fermentee, like the french bread that I totally love, but also has whole wheat flour for texture and taste. I made little batards to use like a hoagie roll for lunch at work. The result was good, but not great. Don't get me wrong, it was tasty, but I was not blown away like I have been with other recipes in this book.

GENERAL NOTES
1. I used whole wheat flour, but Reinhart suggests rye can be used as well. Net time I will use rye.
2. I made 4oz batards and baked them for 15 mins.

VEGAN NOTES
- none