French Bread (Sponge Method)

I had promised one more French bread, made with a different method than the previous versions. I finally got around to delivering.

There are two issues to cover. First, in previous posts, I had mentioned baguettes and afterwards I referred to the loaves simply as French bread. I should clarify. These terms cannot be interchanged. I should not have referred to baguettes earlier. I will make baguettes at a later date but so far, I’ve only been making French bread.  The French have various breads that are not actually a baguette, no matter what shape they are formed into. The baguette has a crispier crust and cannot include syrups, sugar or fats (butter, shortening or oil). The dough for the baguette is actually defined by French law. Understandably, they take this stuff pretty seriously.

Moving on to methodology. The French breads made previously, including the whole wheat, involved  mixing by a straight dough method. This means mixing the yeast with warm water, adding flour, the rest of the ingredients and mixing and then fermenting. Simple enough. Today’s bread was created using a sponge method. This means combining the liquid, yeast and part of the flour and letting it ferment for a LONG time. Afterwards, the rest of the flour and the remaining ingredients are added.  In French, this method is known as levain-levure.  This is not the same as the yeast starter or pre-ferment used for sourdoughs. Sourdoughs recycle portions of old starters or mother dough. The sponge method is made from fresh ingredients.

So what is the difference really, besides some technicalities?  Bread made with the sponge method has a better taste, softer texture and a larger volume. Unfortunately, it also takes quite a bit more time. In colder climates, I might have been able to let the dough ferment overnight, but Miami isn’t that kind of place and four hours was plenty. After getting started, it meant that the dough was finally fermented at 12:30 am.  By the time it was out of the oven, it was 2:20 am. I suppose the consolation was fresh bread for breakfast after needing to wake up at 6:30 am. Note to self:  Don’t try using the sponge method on a weeknight.

So this brings me to the end of lean doughs (at least for a while). Coming up next, I'm moving on to rich doughs. In other words, bring on the sugar and butter!