Fougasse with dates and pistachios

I really enjoy baking bread at home, but honestly, being practical as I am, I tend to look for simple recipes since bread can take a lot of time.

The recipe Eva brings us today, from Bake-Street, fits perfectly with the kind of recipes I like: a very easy-to-follow step-by-step, ingredients you can find easily and a result that, besides being delicious, will surprise at home.

Eating freshly baked bread is one of the greatest pleasures I know, and if it’s homemade even better.

I know that for many of you it may seem like one of those preparations that can put you off a bit, especially when we talk about using preferments, which in the end is much less than it seems and goes perfectly with our pace of life.

But it is also true that there is a wide variety of breads made with commercial yeast that, if we don't overuse it, can give us very soft and fluffy breads with an exceptional result.

Today I'll show you how to make a traditional French bread variety strongly associated with Provence, fougasse. Originally bakers made them to check the temperature of their wood-fired oven and later they became the bakers' lunch.

A very simple bread to make; in just about 3 hours we can have them ready and enjoy them to accompany a good appetizer, an unexpected meal or surprise our family/guests with their attractive leaf-like appearance.

Since dates are approaching when we like to make slightly more elaborate preparations with more special ingredients, I thought of a combination that never fails: dates and pistachios. Of course, if any of you prefer others, there's no problem swapping them or even omitting them.
And to present them there’s nothing better than this beautiful basket together with the baguette board on which we can put a wide variety of cheeses, pâtés, jams, fruits… Everything we like most because bread goes well with everything ;)

Kitchen Craft wire basket and MasterClass baguette board

INGREDIENTS (for 4 medium fougasse)

• 455 g bread wheat flour (I used extra flour with W=180)
• 4 g dry yeast / 12 g fresh yeast
• 9 g salt
• 295 g water
• 30 g olive oil
• 2 large dates, Medjoul type
• 15-20 g shelled pistachios by weight
• semolina and/or flour for dusting (optional)

METHOD

1. In a large bowl we add the wheat flour together with the water, mix with the help of a silicone spatula or our hands until both ingredients are integrated.
2. We cover with a cotton cloth and let autolyse occur (process by which the flour hydrates and the subsequent kneading time decreases) for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, we chop the dates, remove the shells from the pistachios and lightly crush them with a mortar to mash them a bit without turning them into crumbs.
4. After this time we take the dough out of the bowl and move it to a clean work surface with no flour. We add the yeast and mix. We incorporate the salt and mix again.
5. We work the dough performing the hard knead (or traditional kneading, as you can see in the post "Bread, basic concepts and techniques") until our gluten network is more or less developed.
6. To do this we must perform the windowpane test. We take a small portion of dough, either a piece or by lifting a slight fold of the dough, and gently stretch it between the fingertips. When our dough has good development, without reaching 100%, it will allow us to stretch it without breaking, creating a thin veil.
7. If the dough cracks during this step, we should let it rest a few minutes, always covered to avoid drying out, and then continue kneading for another couple of minutes.
8. Knead 2 minutes and let rest 4-5 minutes.
9. Once developed, we add the oil. We should not add it before developing the gluten network, otherwise it will be harder to do and we might not achieve an optimal result.
10. When we pour the oil over the dough it will spread over the entire surface and even the table where we work. It's fine, knead trying to incorporate all the oil as we work the dough.
11. Once it is fully integrated, we will add the chopped dates together with the pistachios lightly crushed in a mortar. We should not do this earlier because it will make it harder to develop the gluten network and once we are doing this step, we should not over-knead with the added ingredients so as not to damage it.
12. We round the dough trying to create tension. To do this we will use the edges of our hands by inserting them under the base of the dough and gently pushing it from one side to the other. We press and pull out with a quick, sharp movement; this way we will avoid it sticking to our hands.
13. We grease a bowl or tupperware and put our dough inside, cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
14. "If you use a stand mixer (like a kitchen aid) you should add the ingredients in the same order I specify for doing it manually. We will use the hook and the kneading time will be somewhat shorter than if we do it by hand."
15. After that time we fold our dough: take one end of the dough and fold it over itself, turn the tupperware 180º and take that end and fold over itself again. Now turn the tupperware 90º and repeat the operation, finish by turning the tupperware 180º and making the last fold.
16. Let rest 30 minutes. After this rest repeat the same operation two more times; in total there will be 3 folds every 30 minutes.
17. Preheat the oven to 240ºC with heat from above and below. You should do this 30 minutes before putting the bread in the oven.
18. If you use a baking stone or steel griddle, you should place it in the oven while preheating.
19. Once the last rest has finished we will shape our fougasse.
20. Prepare your peel/board or surface that will serve to transport the fougasse into the oven.
21. If we use a baking stone, it will be enough to dust the peel/board with a little flour and/or semolina. If we use a steel griddle or a regular baking sheet, place a sheet of parchment paper on the peel/board and dust with a little flour and/or semolina.
22. Divide the dough into 4 pieces of the same size, approximately 200 g each.
23. Carefully stretch the dough and shape it triangular with the help of your hands, about 15 cm long. Using a steel scraper or a sharp knife make the cuts.
24. Make a central cut; this will be the longest of all without reaching the final ends of the dough.
25. Then make 3 more cuts on each side slightly angled.
26. With the help of your fingers open the cuts you made and finish shaping your fougasse. If the dough sticks to your hands, dust them with flour or semolina.
27. Lightly dust with flour and/or semolina, cover with a cotton cloth and let rest 15-25 minutes, depending on the temperature. You should observe that they have increased in volume and the surface is puffed.

When there are 4 minutes left before baking we will heat a little water in the microwave, half a cup, to create steam in the oven.

We must generate steam in the initial minutes; we can do this in 2 ways:

• Placing a metal tray with volcanic stones under the tray we bake on and pouring boiling water into it. In this case the tray will be placed on the base of the oven although if it’s a small container it can be placed to one side of the stone/tray always leaving space for the breads. (Caution: not all ovens allow placing trays on their base. Check the instruction manual)

• Placing a baking tray in the top part, positioned over our bread, where we will pour the boiling water (this is the most practical).

The tray we place inside to pour the water should always be introduced 10 minutes before baking our bread.
Once we have everything ready, we put our bread in the oven in the lowest position. We will bake the fougasses two at a time.
Slide the bread with the help of the peel/board onto the stone/griddle… pour the water onto the upper or lower tray and close the door.

Bake for 5 minutes with steam at 240ºC. After this time remove the top/bottom tray (where we poured the water) and close the door.

Lower the temperature to 230ºC and leave for another 10-12 minutes. It will have a slight golden color on the surface.
Remove and let cool on a rack.

Storage: This bread is ideal to consume warm or on the same day it’s baked; being made with yeast and quite thin it has a shorter shelf life.