Panfoglia, bread in casserole

You can't imagine how eager, immensely, I was to debut my Le Creuset bread casserole. From the moment I had it in my hands it was love at first sight! And since I wanted to break it in in style, I decided to make this Panfoglia.

A bread inspired by one of the creations of Josep Pascual. I say inspired because I only followed his shaping; the flours and formula I used to make it are different. But the credit is entirely his since the shaping of the bread is, without a doubt, the most attractive part of the process.

The Panfoglia or Pan Foglia would translate as bread leaf. It is a bread that, in turn, is based on the famous Pan Tabatière de Jura. A French-origin bread that owes its name to its similarity to tobacco boxes or snuff boxes (in French, tabatière).

The most striking feature of the bread is the top fold that decorates it. To differentiate it from the aforementioned bread, cuts are made in the dough flap to simulate a leaf. Once the second fermentation is finished, we will make decorative cuts on the leaf that will help create a much more visual effect.

I assure you it's a fantastic bread to make at home because it's not only easy but also very eye-catching.

Le Creuset bread casserole oven

What's good about baking in a bread casserole?

Many things, but among them there's one we can especially highlight. By baking our bread in a casserole, we'll achieve a very pronounced oven spring in our breads thanks to containing the heat and steam generated by the bread's evaporation during baking. It works the same way as a dutch oven.

The lid of the casserole prevents the crust from drying out and sealing (as well as helping to trap steam inside), something that directly affects the bread's volume. If the crust dries out too early, we slow the bread's expansion and therefore its final volume. Not to mention proper crumb development. We'll get breads with a tighter, denser crumb if the bread dries out, the crust, too soon. Many more variables affect this last point, but this is one of them.

Another important point is the amount of heat we manage to transmit to the bread. This is fundamental to favor its development and growth in the proper time, before the crumb begins to gelatinize.

One thing to keep in mind about the casserole is that we won't be able to bake very large loaves. We'll have to bake loaves of 500-600 g maximum.

In conclusion. I am madly in love with this new gadget that is already one of my must-haves among all the tools I have at home!

Le Creuset bread casserole oven

Ingredients (for 2 loaves of approximately 500 g each)

Sourdough starter:

• 120 g of 100% hydrated sourdough starter, well active

For the starter:

• 300 g high-strength flour (W=380)
• 240 g Callobre flour
• 360 g water
• 10.8 g salt

Method

First day:

1. In a large bowl we mix the two types of flour together with the water, mix with hands or in the KitchenAId until a homogeneous dough is obtained. Cover with cling film or a shower cap and let rest for autolysis for 1 hour.
2. Add the 120 g of starter and incorporate well, mixing in the same bowl and helping ourselves with a flexible dough scraper. If using the KitchenAid, knead at speed 1 with the hook until a homogeneous dough is achieved. If kneading by hand, transfer to a clean work surface with no flour and begin kneading until a cohesive dough is obtained.
3. We will combine kneading with rests; in this way the dough will develop gluten without needing excessive work and without the risk of overheating it. Knead 2-3 minutes and let rest 5-6 minutes.
   
4. Before letting the dough take its first rest between kneads, add the salt and knead again until fully integrated. Once fully incorporated, proceed to the first rest.
5. Alternate short, gentle kneads with rests until the dough passes the windowpane test.
6. Prepare a large airtight container or a big bowl, grease with oil, place the dough inside and cover.
7. We will allow bulk fermentation for 6 hours at room temperature (in my house it was 22ºC) with 1 fold once the first hour of bulk fermentation has passed. Let rise until it has grown by 1/3 of its initial volume.
8. Refrigerate until the next day. In my case it was 11 hours and 15 minutes at 4ºC.

Rasqueta Küchenprofi and De Buyer fluted cutters

Second day

Take the dough out of the fridge.

1. Take the dough out of the fridge and let come to temperature for 1 and 1/2 hours. At this point, the dough will have doubled in volume.

Pre-shape and shape the bread.

1. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and with the help of a scraper divide into two equal pieces.
2. Pre-shape each piece into a ball, trying not to degas too much. Cover with cling film and let rest 20 minutes.
3. Dust the work surface with flour and proceed to shape the panfoglia.
4. With the help of a rolling pin, roll out part of the pre-shaped dough. Press down on slightly less than 1/3 of the dough, and roll out to form a tongue. Make sure there's always a little flour under the dough you're rolling to prevent it from sticking to the work surface.
5. Roll out until it reaches a length that will cover the loaf.
6. With the help of some fluted cutters, cut part of the rolled dough to give it the appearance of a leaf.
7. Brush the edge with olive oil and fold the rolled dough over the loaf.
8. With the help of a dough scraper you can finish shaping the loaf a bit before the second fermentation.
9. Dust a linen cloth with flour and place our loaf on it. We must flip the loaf so that the folded part is face down during the second fermentation.
10. Cover with the linen itself and let rise for 5 hours at 21ºC.

De Buyer fluted cutters

Preheat the oven.

1. Preheat the oven to 210ºC with top and bottom heat. Place the Le Creuset casserole (base and lid) inside at the same time you preheat the oven. To bake bread inside it must be very hot.
2. Place it on the rack in the lowest part of the oven, the bottom slot. Ideally preheat for 20-30 minutes before putting the loaves in.
3. Carefully turn the dough, which is on the linen, onto a board previously lined with parchment. Ideally make a quick move to transfer the loaf to the board, but you can do it by hand with great care. The folded part should be facing up.
4. Dust a little flour over the surface and, with the help of a blade or lame, make decorative cuts on the folded dough in the shape of a leaf

Bake the panfoglia.

1. We open the oven and, using gloves, remove the lid of the bread casserole and set it on a wooden board.
2. Place the loaf in the Le Creuset casserole, with the parchment paper, put the lid on and close the oven door.
3. Leave for 20 minutes at 210ºC.
4. After these first 20 minutes, we open the oven door, remove the lid of the casserole using gloves, and set it on a wooden board.

Finish baking.

1. Lower the temperature to 200ºC and finish baking without the lid. Leave for 15 minutes.
2. After this time, reduce the heat to 190ºC with fan and leave 5 more minutes. This helps dry the bread and improves the crust.
3. Once baking is finished, remove and cool completely on a rack before slicing.
4. To bake the other loaf, remember that we must place the lid of the casserole back in the oven and preheat for 20 minutes.

Le Creuset bread casserole oven

Notes:

• You should always use an active, refreshed sourdough starter, if not daily, refresh it 2-3 times before using.
• If you want to make the bread with yeast instead of using sourdough, omit the preferment (sourdough starter) and add to the final dough 60 g high-strength flour + 60 g water. The amount of yeast to add should not exceed 2% of the final flour weight; that is, add a maximum of 12 g fresh yeast or 4 g dry yeast.
• A yeast preferment can also be prepared.
• I used high-strength flour and Callobre flour, if you don't have these flours, try to use something similar to achieve the same result. If you don't have the same flours, you can use a strong or high-strength flour and adjust the final hydration. The dough should be easy to handle and not sticky to the touch so you can manipulate and work with it well.
• If you use a baker's flour or strong flour, you can work with hydration around 60%.
• Autolysis is a process in which we allow the flour protein to hydrate before kneading. For this we mix the flour with the water until combined, cover and let rest. This step reduces the final kneading time.
• The windowpane test consists of taking a portion of dough and stretching it between your fingertips. The dough should be able to stretch without tearing or, if it tears, it will do so creating a perfect circle. This step helps us assess the gluten development and the dough's condition.
• It is very important not to pre-shape the dough applying too much tension. We should do just enough.
• It is important to brush the leaf with oil to help it detach and lift during baking.
• The Le Creuset bread casserole must be very hot to bake the bread well. Preheat the oven with it inside.
• It's not necessary to add steam to the oven if we bake the bread with the casserole. The bread's own steam, which gets trapped inside the casserole, will be more than enough.
• Finish baking without the lid to create crust and brown the bread.
• This sourdough bread has a shelf life of 2-3 days. Cover it with a cotton cloth to prevent it from drying out.

If you enjoy making bread, you will surely have a lot of fun making this Panfoglia. It is a fairly simple bread to make, despite appearances, and its result is incredibly attractive.

Also, the decoration is completely optional. You can create the patterns you prefer or even use stencils to decorate the surface with flour or cocoa powder. I can't wait to see yours!