Couronne: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes

This week, we're making a French Bread using the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes method. A couronne is a beautiful ring or crown-shaped loaf that is a specialty of Lyon.

This is a very easy bread to make especially with this method. Instead of having to allow extra time to make the dough, we can use the last bit of dough from the batch that has been fermenting in the refrigerator for the past 14 days. We'll make a fresh batch of dough next time to use over a 2-week period. I don't know about you, but things have gotten a little crazier around my house now that high school is back in session so every little short cut helps to minimize the craziness if only just a little bit.

Couronne
Makes: 1 beautiful loaf
From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Boule dough
• Whole wheat flour for dusting the pizza peel

Directions:

Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece.I had a little over a pound left so I just grabbed the rest of the dough.

Dust the piece with more flour and shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Once you have the ball-shape, poke your thumbs through the center of the ball and gradually stretch the hole so that it's large enough to stay open while the bread is rising. The hole needs to be about three times as wide as the wall of the ring. Place the shaped loaf on a pizza peel covered parchment paper sprinkled with whole wheat flour.

Allow the loaf to rest for 40 minutes. The loaf had spread out a little more than I wanted so I pushed it back into shape.

About 20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a baking stone on the middle rack and an empty steam pan on the shelf below it. I've tried placing the steam pan on different shelves, and have found that having the broiler tray under the baking stone works best. If you place it above the baking stone, it doesn't allow enough steam for the bread to rise or turn brown. At least not in my oven. I also like to place the baking stone on the middle shelf. I've tried it on the bottom shelf, but it always seems to burn the bottom of the loaf before the top gets brown.>

When it's time to bake, dust the couronne with flour and slash radially, like spokes in a wheel.

Slide the couronne (with the parchment paper) onto the preheated baking stone. Pour a cup of hot water into the steam pan and close the door.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. If you have a smaller or larger loaf, adjust the time accordingly. Ooops! It said deeply browned, but I don't think this is what they meant. 

I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I was so exhausted this past Saturday when I made this bread that I fell asleep while it was baking. It probably only baked for about 10 minutes longer (maybe more) than it should've, but that was enough to make it to crunchy to eat. Oh well! I think it still looks beautiful.

Allow the bread to cool before cutting or eating.  Here is the finished Couronne. Enjoy! Just don't bake it too long like I did. ;o)

Happy Baking!
Cathy

Crusty Bread Machine French Bread

The dough for this crusty French Bread is made in the bread machine and baked in a stoneware baker for a crust that is thin and crispy. The crumb has a moist and chewy texture that melts in your mouth.



French Bread Extraordinaire!

This French Bread recipe is from Linda Rehberg's and Lois Conway's The Bread Machine Magic Book of Helpful Hints. According to the authors, this method produces a wonderful loaf of bread that is comparable to the ones baked in France.

Ingredients: (medium-size loaf)

• 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups Water
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

Directions:

1. Place dough ingredients in bread pan, select Dough setting, and press Start.

2. When the dough cycle ends, the machine will beep. Set a time and allow the dough to rise 1 more hour. Open the machine, punch down the dough, set the time again, and let dough rise another hour in the machine.





Turn off bread machine, remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a lightly floured countertop or cutting board. Form into a smooth, round ball then flatten it with your hands.




Note: If you want to bake your bread in a La Cloche, follow the steps listed under Variation. If you prefer not to bake your bread in a La Cloche, follow steps 3 - 5.


3. Place a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) in a around wicker basket that's at least twice the size of the dough. Dust the towel liberally with flour. Place the round dough in the center of the basket. Place basket in a warm place and let dough rise, uncovered, about 45 minutes until doubled in size.

4. Gently turn dough out of basket upside down onto a greased baking sheet. With a very sharp knife held almost parallel to the loaf, carefully slash the top of the dough at sharp angles in a # pattern.

5. Preheat oven to 450°F. Carefully place a small pan on the floor or bottom shelf of the oven. Add at least 1 cup boiling water to the pan. Place dough in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cake rack to cool 1 hour before slicing. To preserve the crisp crust, do not store in plastic wrap or bag. Bread can be loosely covered or left out for up to 2 days before it dries out completely.


VARIATION: (This is the method we chose.)

To make French bread with a crust so thin and crispy that it crackles when you remove it from the oven, try baking this bread in a La Cloche clay cooker.

1. Omit steps 3 through 5. Liberally cover the base of the La Cloche with cornmeal and place the rounded dough onto the base.

2. Slash the dough as indicated in step 4. Cover it with plastic wrap, then place it in a warm oven to rise until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.



3. While the dough is rising, soak the lid of La Cloche upside down in a sink of water. (Cushion the handle with a dishcloth or sponge.)*

* The manufacturers of La Cloche do not recommend soaking the lid before baking because the absorption factor of stoneware is less than 1 percent. However, the authors preferred the way the bread turned out when they soaked the lid so I decided to try it this way as well.

4. For a dark crust, preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the wet lid over the dough; bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until dark brown.

5. For a lighter crust, preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the wet lid over the dough; bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400°F and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown.





Happy Baking!
Cathy

  
Additional resources for making bread machine bread:

• Making bread machine bread
  
• Bread machine recipes
  
• Adapt recipes for use in your bread maker