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It takes three days to make these baguettes, but oh my god it is SO WORTH IT! Leaving the baguette dough to prove and develop over three days gives it the most amazing flavour that is totally worth waiting for! Plus, despite it taking a few days to make these baguettes, it´s the fridge that does most of the hard work. The hands-on time you will be spending on this recipe is minimal! So, let´s not waste any more time here and get straight into how you can make these 3-day baguettes!
Recipe Inspiration
I have wanted to make baguettes for AGES and finally got around to making them now during lockdown!
I wanted to make them with fresh yeast, as I think it gives bread dough a much better flavour than dried fast-action yeast, but fresh yeast can be quite tricky to come by here in the UK – Until corona, when there was no dried yeast and supermarkets started selling fresh yeast from their bakeries! So, I thought, what better time to make baguettes than now?
If you cannot find fresh yeast (I have recently learned that most supermarket bakeries will give you fresh yeast if you ask for it. I never knew that or I would have tried that ages ago!), you can also use dried yeast. Use half the amount of dried yeast than fresh yeast, i.e. instead of 10g of fresh yeast, use 5g of dried yeast.
The recipe for these 3-day baguettes is originally from this website here. I found when making it though, that I wanted to add a bit more yeast and salt etc., so you can find “my version” and recipe notes below.
The 3-Day Process
The 3-day process of making these baguettes starts with making a preferment. It´s basically a dough that you leave to ferment for 24 hours, before adding it to another dough. This will add incredible flavour to the final baguettes.
On day two, you make the actual bread dough for the baguettes, to which you add the pre-fermented dough you created the day before. The second-day kneading process is a bit longer than on day one, as now you really are trying to build up the gluten and make a smooth and stretchy dough. If you are wanting to add any “extras” to your baguettes, such as olives, nuts, seeds, sundried tomatoes, herbs etc. – this is the time to do it! Adding those ingredients in before the next 24h hour proof will let the dough absorb all the flavours during that time!
I love to add black olives to these baguettes – you can check out the recipe for my Baguettes aux Olives/Olive Baguettes here.
Day three, and you´ll finally get to bake your baguettes. First you shape the baguettes, then you give them a last one-hour proof at room temperature. The 3-day baguettes are then baked in a hot oven with steam for 20-25 minutes and hey presto, you´re done!
Baking with Steam
When baking bread, you need to have some steam in the oven in order for the bread to develop a nice crust. If you like a good crusty bread, check out my Crusty Sourdough Loaf recipe.
Some, slightly more “fancy” ovens can insert steam into the oven automatically. If, like me, you just have a boring old normal oven, you´ll need to make “your own” steam.
All you need to do, is heat a roasting tray in the oven whilst it is preheating. Just as the baguettes go in, pour some boiling water straight from the kettle into the roasting tray and quickly close the oven door. This will create a nice burst of steam for the baguettes to bake in.
Freezing the 3-Day Baguettes
The recipe below is enough to make 6 baguettes. This might seem quite a lot, but if you don´t give them away to friends or family, you can easily put them in the freezer! Once you are ready to eat them, defrost them (I do it overnight) and then reheat in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 200°C to crisp them up!
These baguettes are great for breakfast, topped with eggs, meat, cheese, butter or jam! They are also great for dipping in a hot bowl of soup! If you are looking for some new soup recipes, then why not try out my Red Lentil Soup, Leek and Potato Soup, Thick Vegetable Soup or Roasted Pumpkin Soup?
3-Day Baguettes
Recipe
Total Recipe Ingredients (makes 6 baguettes):
FOR THE 3-DAY BAGUETTES:
- 950g strong white flour (bread flour), plus a little extra for dusting
- 27g salt
- 25g fresh yeast (or 12.5g dried yeast)
- 590ml water
- A little olive oil, for greasing
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- large mixing bowl
- dough scraper (recommended)
- French couche or thick dish towel
- bread lame, razor blades (I use Stanley throw-away knifes) or sharp knife
Day 1 – Preferment
Ingredients:
- 450g strong white flour (bread flour)
- 12g salt
- 290ml lukewarm water
- 10g fresh yeast
Method:
- Start by crumbling the yeast into the lukewarm water and stir until it has completely dissolved.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt, then pour in the yeast and water. Use your hands to bring the mixture together until it forms a dough.
- Tip onto a clean work surface and knead for about 4-5 minutes. The dough can be quite sticky, but don´t be tempted to add any extra flour at this point. You are only kneading the dough for a short amount of time to bring the ingredients together. The real work of building up the gluten and creating flavour is done by the fridge!
- Lightly oil the bowl (no knead (see what I did there?) to wash) and a piece of clingfilm. Return your preferment into the bowl and cover with the clingfilm (oiled side down). Place the bowl in the fridge for at least 18-24 hours.
Day 2 – Making the Baguette Dough and Adding Flavour
Ingredients:
- Pre-fermented dough
- 500g strong white flour (bread flour)
- 15g salt
- 300ml lukewarm water
- 15g fresh yeast
Method:
- Again, start by dissolving the fresh yeast in the water.
- Remove the pre-fermented dough from the fridge. Tip it onto your work surface and break it into smaller pieces. This will make it easier to work into the dough.
- Weigh the flour and salt into a mixing bowl (you can use the bowl your pre-ferment was in), mix, then add in the water and yeast, and the pieces of pre-fermented dough.
- Use your hands to combine all the ingredients and bring them together to form a dough. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead the dough for 10-15 minutes. Again, the dough might be a bit sticky but don´t be tempted to add any more flour. I find it helps to use a dough scraper, as well as your hands, when kneading a sticky dough and to use more of a “stretch and fold technique”. Another tip, is to stop kneading after about 10 minutes and leave the dough to rest for a few minutes (you could wash the dishes in the meantime). When you go back to the dough, it will be a lot less sticky and easier to work with.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic and passes the “window pane test”. This means, that you can stretch a piece of dough between your fingers without tearing, until it is thin enough for you to see light shine through it. You should also be able to see some nice strands of gluten, too!
- If you are wanting to add some “extras” (e.g. olives, nuts, etc.) to your dough, or even just half of the dough, do so know. Knead them in for a minute or two until evenly distributed in the dough.
- Return the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a piece of lightly oiled clingfilm and then place in the fridge for another 18-24 hours, or even up to 36 hours!
Day 3 – Shaping and Baking (Finally!)
- Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 6 equal portions (about 250g each), then roll each piece into a ball. For the shaping process, I´d highly recommend watching this video (from 10:00 onwards), but I will do my best to explain it in writing below.
- Instead of trying to shape the baguettes in one go, the process is broken down into stages to allow the dough to relax in between each step. You may want to flour your work surface lightly during the shaping process, although a slight stickiness to the dough will help with the rolling.
- First, you want to shape each portion of dough into a rectangle. To do so, pull the ball of dough from opposite ends to stretch it out, then fold the end bits in towards the middle. Then, starting from the long edge facing you, roll the edge into the centre, then push it down into the dough to seal. Repeat once more to form a rectangle/sausage shape about 15cm long. Do this with all 6 pieces of dough, then leave to bench rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Once the dough has had the change to rest a little, you can shape it into a baguette. Take each piece of dough and roll into a long sausage, about 30cm long. Start from the middle and work your way out, applying pressure to the dough as you do so.
The final proof…
- Heavily flour a couche (proofing cloth used by the French) or sturdy dish towel (I used a small hand towel) and place the shaped baguettes onto it, side by side, folding up the towel between each baguette to create a barrier. To make sure the baguettes at the end are also supported from either side, you can either place your tea towel on a baking tray, or just place some bowls etc. at either end. Arranging and supporting the baguettes in this way will ensure that they proof upwards, rather than spread out.
- Leave the baguettes to proof for 50 minutes, or until the dough quickly springs back when you press down on it gently. About 30 minutes into the proof, preheat the oven to 240°C and place a large roasting tray into the bottom of the oven.
- Carefully transfer your baguettes onto two large baking trays (3 baguettes per tray) lined with baking paper. Use a bread lame, razor blade, or very sharp knife to slash the baguettes. Make 4 confident cuts down the length of the dough. The cuts should only be very slightly diagonal, almost straight and should overlap slightly.
- Slide the baking trays with the baguettes into the hot oven. As you do so, pour some boiling water into the preheated roasting tray at the bottom of the oven to create a burst of steam, then quickly close the oven door.
- Bake the baguettes for 20-25 minutes until golden and a nice crust has formed.
