For Elaina...

I made some delicious baguettes yesterday, and I thought I'd share the recipe, since they are actually easier to make than you might think.  I'd say only about 20 minutes of hands-on time, the rest is raising and baking.  Get your aprons ready!

Yes, I made this...Looks good enough to eat!

Four-Hour Baguette

from Saveur magazine, May 2012

Traditional baguettes are 24 to 30 inches long and are baked in ovens that produce steam, which delays crust formation so the loaves can fully rise. This recipe reduces the length to fit in home ovens and calls for adding ice cubes to a hot cast–iron skillet to create steam. 

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups (12 oz.) tap water, heated to 115°

1 tsp. (⅛ oz.) active dry yeast
3 ¼ cups (14 ⅔ oz.) all–purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. (⅜ oz.) kosher salt
Canola oil, for greasing bowl (I used non-stick vegetable oil cooking spray)
½ cup ice cubes

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Whisk together water and yeast in a large bowl; let sit until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes. Add flour, and stir with a fork until dough forms and all flour is absorbed (it's gonna look really scrappy and messy, that's okay.  It'll get a lot friendlier once it sits for awhile); let dough sit to allow flour to hydrate, about 20 minutes. Add salt ( Figure A); transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes (I kneaded the salt right into it, I didn't try to stir it in). Transfer dough ball to a lightly greased bowl (use non-stick spray for the best/easiest coverage); cover bowl with plastic wrap, and place bowl in a cold oven or on a draft-free countertop. Let dough rest until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

2. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and shape into an 8″ x 6″ rectangle. Fold the 8″ sides toward the middle ( Figure B), then fold the shorter sides toward the center. Return dough, seam side down, to bowl. Cover with plastic again, and return to oven or counter; let sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Remove bowl with dough from oven, and place a cast–iron skillet on the bottom rack of oven; position another rack above skillet, and place a baking stone on it (I baked it right on a cookie sheet, no need for a baking stone for this girl!  However, make sure you use a heavy cast iron skillet for the ice, anything glass will shatter immediately, and light-weight pans will warp).

4. Heat oven to 475° (I did this once the loaves were almost raised, I guess it depends on how long your oven takes to get that hot). Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and cut into three equal pieces; shape each piece into a 14″ rope ( Figure C). Flour a sheet of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet; place ropes, evenly spaced, on paper. Lift paper between ropes to form pleats; place two tightly rolled kitchen towels under long edges of paper, creating supports for the loaves. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let sit until it doubles in size, about 50 minutes (I had to sprinkle some flour on top of the loaves as well, to keep the plastic wrap from sticking as they raised.  It may also work to spray the plastic wrap with the non-stick spray).

5. Uncover; remove towels, and flatten paper to space out loaves. Using a sharp (SHARP!!) razor or paring knife, slash the top of each baguette at a 30–degree angle in four spots ( Figure D); each slash should be about 4″ long. Using the corner of the parchment paper as a guide, slide the loaves, still on the parchment paper, onto the baking stone (none of this nonsense is necessary, I just left the parchment paper on the cookie sheet and put the whole thing in the oven). Place ice cubes in skillet, which produces steam that lets the loaves rise fully before a crust forms (close the oven FAST after you do this, or you'll lose the steam!). Bake the baguettes until darkly browned and crisp, about 30 minutes; cool before serving.

image from Saveur.com