Pane Francese
Pane Francese means French Bread in Italian, but this loaf is a bit flatter than true French Bread, and according to Beth, is reminiscent of the earthy breads made by early Roman bakers. It was the first time I baked this bread, but it made me feel like the most accomplished baker in the world. It developed a sturdy crackly crisp crust and moist interior filled with uneven holes. This is the closest to the Romanian store bought breads which I miss so much here in the US. It takes a long time to bake it but is well worth it. I will keep baking this bread, it was just great!
Prepared and Photographed by: Claudia Davis
Recipe Source: Beth Herspenger, Bread Lovers Machine Cookbook
Serves: 4
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
For biga sponge:- 1⅛ cups of water
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of SAF yeast or bread machine yeast
- 2 cups of bread flour
For the dough:- ¼ cup of water
- 1¼ cup of bread flour
- 2 teaspoons of gluten
- 1 teaspoon of SAF yeast or bread machine yeast
- 1½ teaspoons of salt
Instructions
Biga sponge- Place the water in a small sauce pan and put on the low heat to bring it to a lukewarm temperature
- Transfer the water in a bowl, add the sugar and the yeast, whisk well
- Add the flour and whisk together, put the mixture in the bread maker pan, close the lid and let is sit in the machine for 8-10 hours
Dough- Add the dough ingredients to the biga sponge, program the machine to dough cycle
- When the cycle is finished, unplug the machine and let the dough it rise for another hour
- After the time ends, scrape the bread out onto a oiled surface. Using oil instead of flour will keep the dough from getting heavier from the added flour. Knead a few times and divide into two portions.
- Flatten each portion into ovals. Roll up from a long edge into an oblong rectangular loaf, will get two loafs of equal size
- Take each roll and place in on the baking sheet. Cover with a clean towel and let it rise again for an hour or so.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, bake the bread for 30-40 minutes. The smell is just heavenly. When the crust is golden brown, pull out of the oven, place it on a wire rack and let it cool a little bit before slicing.
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