Les Boules
Rustic appearance and taste are right at the very top for this recipe – the secret lies in the simplicity and not with complexity like in some recipes! As simple as possible, no frills and the production process should fit into the daily routine as easily as possible.
For the Les Boules, it starts with a recipe with a flour mixture of standard wheat flour type 700/550 and the French T80. In addition to the main dough, the wheat flour is also used in the wheat pre-dough (Lievito Madre) – this type of flour makes it easier to knead the main dough and at the same time ensures more airy pores. The French T80 from Bongu, on the other hand, is purely responsible for the taste and the result speaks for itself! Of course, you can exchange different flours (whole wheat, …), but the result will never get anywhere near this result.
After production, the dough is folded twice, whereby the dough is immediately placed in the proofing basket after the second fold! Many will ask whether the dough has sufficient stability with such processing methods? In all honesty: I wasn’t too worried about what came out of the oven, the main thing was simple and straightforward!
I’ve been trying for soooo long to get this simplicity of baking bread into the blog and now the time has finally come – it’s a shame that I didn’t start with such recipes earlier.
Conclusion: Reduce the amount of salt, long & cold proof in combination with a strong bake lead to a highly flavored taste experience!
Recipe
For a dough weight of 1770g
Total Recipe
| 500g | French T80 wheat flour | 50% |
| 500g | Wheat flour Type 550/700 | 50% |
| 750g | Water | 75% |
| 18g | Salt | 1,8% |
| 2g | Yeast | 0,2% |
Lievito Madre
| 300g | Wheat flour Type 550/700 |
| 150g | Water 15°C |
| 150g | Starter |
Slowly mix the starter, water, and wheat flour in the mixed for 3-4 minutes. Then allow it to rise for 4-5 hours until it has doubled in volume (depending on the activity level this rise time can vary).
ATTENTION: Before continuing with the main dough, remove 150g of the sourdough as starter and store it in the refrigerator. Only 450g of mature Lievito Madre is used in the recipe!
Main Dough
| 500g | French T80 flour |
| 200g | Wheat flour Type 700/550 |
| 450g | Mature Lievito Madre |
| 600g | Water c. 8°C |
| 18g | Salt |
| 2g | Yeast |
Production
- Mix the flour, water, and lievito madre in the mixer for 2-3 minutes slowly. Then allow to stand for 45 minutes to autolyse.
- After the autolyse, add the salt and yeast and mix slowly for 6 minutes. Then knead on a faster speed for 3-4 minutes. Caution: be careful not to over knead!
- Then place the dough in ann oiled dough tub and allow to mature for 45 minutes. After the 45 minutes, stretch and fold the dough once.
- Cover and let it rise for another 60-75 minutes.
- Now the dough is turned out onto a floured surface and then folded into the middle from all 4 sides – the dough ends should overlap nicely to build some tension into the dough surface.
- Then place the dough into a floured proofing basket with the seam-side up and immediately store it in a cool spot (4°C) to proof.
- The duration of the cold proof can be between 8-24 hours. It is important to cool to dough quickly to 4°C – only in doing so can the proofing time of 24 hours succeed.
- To bake, preheat the oven to 240°C.
- Pull the baking stone out of the oven, turn the dough out onto it and score the dough surface with a sharp knife.
- Slide the baking stone with the dough bake into the oven and add ample steam.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C and bake until well browned – at least 55-60 minutes.
