Bread recipe: Bordeaux crown (or Couronne bordelaise)

Today we are going to see how to make a bordalesa crown or crown of the Bordalesa Kings. The recipe for this delicious bread, very colorful but easy to prepare at home, is brought to us by Eva, author of Bake-Street . Heed his good advice, his hands have touched many masses!

Bordeaux Wreath (Couronne bordelaise) is a festive bread typical of Bordeaux, southwestern France. Originally it is made of 8 or 9 balls joined together and on them a small steering wheel. It is said that, when it is made with only 6 balls, it is called a Gascon crown.

T&G cutting board , Le Creuset mini-spatula and Le Creuset jam jar

I show you how to make them with 6 units but, if you prefer, you can expand them to 8 or 9.

Originally, the preparation of this bread was made with the same dough with which the campaign bread, pain de campagne, was made. A white dough made with wheat to which a small part of wholemeal flour or rye flour was added and which was usually made with sourdough or old dough (dough from the previous batch), plus a small addition of yeast.

It is a very striking bread thanks to its shape that can also remind us of the structure of a flower.

INGREDIENTS

For the preference:
• 100 g of flour of force
• 50 g whole rye flour
• 1.2 g dry yeast / 3.6 g fresh yeast
• 150 g of water
• 3g of salt

Final mass:
• 200 g of flour of force
• 200 g of bread flour
• 50 g whole rye
• 50 g of whole wheat flour
• 3 g dry yeast / 9 g fresh yeast
• 300-350 g of water
• 9 g of salt
• All preferment

Preparation

The night before : We made the preferment.

1. In a bowl, mix the flour together with the water, yeast and salt. Remember that we should not add these last two ingredients together, better separately.
2. Mix well until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Cover with film and put in the fridge overnight.
3. If we do it in a cold season, we can leave it in the coldest part of the house at room temperature overnight.

The next day : We prepare our bread.

1. We take the preferment out of the cold 60 minutes before using it.
2. In a large bowl add all the preferment together with ¾ parts of water. We beat with the help of some rods well until completely dissolved.
3. Add the flours and begin to mix using a flexible scraper. We make folds to integrate some ingredients with others as we add the remaining water little by little and mix at the same time.

We will observe the texture of the dough to know if we should add more or less water. It should not be hard but not excessively hydrated either. It sticks to the hands, due to the presence of rye, but it is somewhat soft to the touch.

It is better that you stay a little short of water and then rectify if necessary. Bread is always rectified with water, never with flour.

4. Once the ingredients have been integrated, cover it with a cotton cloth and perform autolysis (let it rest for the flour to hydrate) for 20 minutes.

5. After this time we add the yeast and mix. Add the salt and mix again.

6. We dumped the dough on a work surface and started kneading. When carrying rye it will be a very sticky dough, the ideal is that we knead by doing the French kneading.

We will combine kneading with rest. Knead for 4 minutes and let rest for 5 minutes. Until we observe that the gluten mesh has been developed by performing the membrane test.

We take a small portion of dough and stretch it between the fingertips, if it stretches without tearing then we will have a good development of the dough. We must always do this test after resting, otherwise the dough will be tense and it will be easier for it to tear.

7. Prepare the container where we are going to store it. Lightly grease the entire surface with olive oil, introduce our dough and cover. Let it rise until it doubles its size or a little more, at 24º-25ºC it will be around 1 hour.

Prepare the mold where we will let the bread rise.

2. Place the glass in the center of the mold and cover with the cotton cloth. We will adjust the cloth, as far as possible, so that there are not many folds of cloth inside, sprinkle generously with rye flour. We booked.

Divide the dough and form

1. To make this crown we will need to divide the dough into 7 equal portions. Preform the pieces, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

2. After that time we take one of the portions and stretch with a roller giving a circular shape. We must form a disk that does not reach the diameter of the mold, there must be about three fingers free.

3. We place on the mold covering the mound that we created with the glass.
We form our portions, round, grease the side that sticks to the disc with a little oil and place it inside the mold surrounding the mound. Once we have all our balls formed and in the mold, we proceed to cut the dough in the shape of a disk on the mound.

4. With the help of a sharp blade or knife, we will cut the dough so that each cut starts from the union between two pieces. We will have some triangles that we will fold over the pieces of dough.

5. We press lightly to unite them and cover with film to let it do the last rise.

6. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1-2 hours.

7. Preheat the oven 30 minutes before to 220ºC with heat up and down, if we have stone or steel plate we preheat with it. In case of not having, we can bake on a tray without problems.

8. We will bake with steam for the first 10 minutes so that we introduce a container with volcanic stones, if we have it, to generate steam. In case of not having, we can introduce a small tray or container where to pour it.

We take the bread out of the mold

We heat half a cup of water to pour over the container with stones. We prepare a shovel / board with baking paper.

Place on the mold and very carefully flip as if it were an omelette. Carefully lift the mold, remove the glass and the cloth.

Baked

1. We put the bread in the oven in the lowest part of the oven, pour the boiling water into the container and close the door. Bake for 20 minutes at 220ºC.
2. After this time, we take out the steam container and close it again. Lower the heat to 210ºC and leave for 10 more minutes. Reduce the heat to 190ºC and bake for 10 minutes, finishing the final 10 minutes at 190ºC with air.
3. Once the baking time is over, we turn off the oven and leave the bread inside with the door ajar for another 15 minutes. In this way we will help to form a crispier crust.
4. Remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Glorious Food T&G Acacia Wood Butter Board & Chopping Board

Conservation

Before consuming the bread it is advisable to let it cool completely. This type of bread remains tender for 1-2 days, although I recommend eating it the same day it is baked.

This is a bread that, despite not seeming like it at first, is very easy to make and with fantastic results. It has an intense and characteristic flavor thanks to rye, with a fluffy and very tender crumb accompanied by a crunchy and aromatic crust. Without a doubt, a perfect option to surprise at home.

Accompanied by a good homemade butter and our favorite jam is a real delight.