I put the bakery on hiatus, but I still take occasional requests. One of the most popular items I sold was the French Boule, or "boule de pain" (pronounced "bool de pan," which translates to "ball of bread"). I don't know how authentically French it is, but it is delicious and has just the right balance of being easy to make and a bit of a "wow" factor to it.
I'm going to teach you how to make the French Boule. If you try it, you'll be amazed at how easy it is.
This is going to be a typical recipe blog post, with pictures and directions, and then the recipe at the very end. So feel free to scroll down to the bottom if you just want the recipe.
Let's talk for a minute about each of the ingredients.
The ingredients are simple: flour, water, salt, and yeast. That's it.
Flour: I use Lehi Mills unbleached bread flour. That's all I've ever used, but I imagine that any bread flour would do just fine.
Water: I just use regular tap water. Some people, including my dad the chemistry professor, will tell you that you should use purified or filtered water because the chlorine in tap water can inhibit the yeast from being able to rise. I used bottled water the first few times I made this bread, then I just decided to make the switch to tap water. I'm here to tell you that there is absolutely no noticeable difference, but you should use whatever kind of water you would like. I once used Mountain Dew in place of the water. It produced a slightly sweet bread, and the crust was darker due to the caramelization of the sugar.
Salt: I use coarse kosher salt, but I am confident you could use regular table salt. My dad would probably say that you should avoid table salt because of the iodine, but I doubt you'd notice a difference. If you weigh your ingredients, just use the same number of grams, but if you measure with teaspoons, you'll need to convert it for table salt.
Yeast: I use Red Star active dry yeast. I'm sure any brand of active dry yeast will work, but I have not tried it with instant yeast. If you use instant yeast, let me know how that goes.
Now let's talk about equipment for a minute.
Kitchen scale: First off, I highly recommend a kitchen scale. It's so much easier and accurate, but if you don't have a scale, I'll give you the measurements in cups at the end of this post. But trust me, if you want to do much baking, a kitchen scale is well worth it.
Mixing bowl: You'll need a large mixing bowl. The dough will rise quite a bit, so make sure your bowl is at least three quarts. I like to double the recipe to make two boules, so I use a six-quart bowl like this.
Silicone spatula: For mixing, you can use a wooden spoon, but I prefer a sturdy silicone or rubber spatula to help get all the dry flour that likes to hide on the bottom of the bowl. When mixing, you want to make sure there are no dry bits left.
Baking dish: For the baking dish, I use both a three-quart cast iron Dutch oven and a ceramic casserole dish. The ceramic dish makes a rounder loaf. I've also used a glass casserole dish, which works fine. The important thing is to line your dish with parchment paper, otherwise the bread is likely to stick to the bottom.
That's all the equipment you'll need! Well, I guess you'll need an oven too. Hopefully you have one of those. Okay, let's get started!
First, measure your bread flour into your mixing bowl.
Add your salt:
And then your yeast:
Then add your water:
Now mix it all up until you have no dry bits. Be sure to scrape the bottom of your bowl really well. At first you'll think you have too much water, then you'll think you don't have enough. Don't worry, just keep mixing and it will all come together. When you're finished, you'll end up with a very sticky dough:
Now you can cover your dough to let it rise. You can cover with plastic wrap or something like I have pictured below. Just don't put on an air-tight lid or you might end up with a minor explosion as the gasses from the activated yeast expand.
Let the dough rise at room temperature for at least 18 hours, and up to 24. I like to keep mine on top of the refrigerator.
After 18 hours, your dough should have risen quite a bit and will be all bubbly.
Next, scrape your dough onto a floured surface. You can do it directly onto the counter, but I prefer to use a baking sheet for easier cleanup.
Now just roll it around in the flour to get it completely covered. If you doubled the recipe, you'll need to divide your dough in half after this step.
Try to shape your dough into a ball, but don't worry about getting it perfect.
Plop your dough into your parchment-lined baking dish. You can preheat your dish while your oven preheats, but I have been skipping that step and haven't noticed a difference.
Cover your dish and put it in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for another 10-12 minutes.
Look how nice and round and golden those boules are!
Carefully remove the boule from the dish and let it cool completely on a cooling rack, and then you're ready to slice and eat!
Now you're officially a boulanger! I hope you try making this bread and that you love it as much as my family and I do!
Classic French Boule
Makes one round boule. You can double the recipe for two boules.
Ingredients:
435g bread flour
9g coarse kosher salt
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
356g water
Directions:
- Using a sturdy silicone or rubber spatula, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the water and mix until there are no dry bits. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.
- Cover and let rise at room temperature for 18-24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Scrape the dough onto a floured surface and roll it in the flour.
- *If you doubled the recipe, divide your dough in half at this point.
- Place dough in a parchment lined Dutch oven or round casserole dish.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove lid and bake uncovered for another 10-12 minutes.
- Cool completely on a cooling rack.
Variations:
You can add 2-3 tablespoons of fresh chopped rosemary with your dry ingredients. You could try other herbs and add in some minced garlic and pepper!
Measurements for those who don't want to use a kitchen scale:
435g bread flour - just a little more than 3 1/2 cups
9g coarse kosher salt - a little less than 2 teaspoons. If you use table salt, it will be a little more than one teaspoon.
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
356g water - about 1 1/2 cups
