Sourdough Fougasse

SOURDOUGH FOUGASSE

Makes 3 large fougasses

The first time I saw these I saw them on @blondieandrye and I thought they were beautiful! 

These should be the new breadsticks! 

I adapted this recipe from @mydailysourdoughbread

• INGREDIENTS • 

Levain Ingredients:

100g warm water

100g bread flour

1 heaping tablespoon of active mature sourdough starter

Fougasse Ingredients:

200g sourdough levain that was prepared the night before

330g warm water

450g bread flour

50g whole wheat flour

10g sea salt

Any preferred topping: cheese, herbs, salt etc.

10-20 ice cubes for baking

DIRECTIONS:

The evening before, prepare your levain for the fougasse. Measure 100g of warm water, 100g bread flour and 1 large tablespoon of your active mature sourdough starter. Combine until there are no lumps, cover and place in a draft-free warm area overnight for 12-14 hours.

In the morning your sourdough levain should have doubled in size and be full of bubbles. Mix your levain into the 330g of warm water. Add the 500g of measured flour and mix by hand until fully incorporated and no dry ingredients can be seen. Leave the dough to rest (autolyze) for 30 minutes. By doing this the dough will be easier to handle because the flour would absorb the water and gluten strands will start to form. After the autolyze, you will notice the dough has relaxed.

After the autolyse, add the 10g of salt and mix by hand for 4 minutes until incorporated.

You will begin your bulk fermentation and let it sit for 2 hours covered, during this time you will perform 4 series of coil folds or stretch and folds every 30 minutes. After these 2 hours, let it rise for an addition 2-3 hours or until your dough is well-developed, strong and bubbly.

Flour your counter and turn your dough out and divide into 3 pieces, round out each pieces into a ball, cover and let it rest for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a piece of parchment paper and lightly flour it. After your dough has rested, lightly roll it out into an oval or rectangle shape and use a pizza cutter to create holes. You can do a ladder, leaf or whatever you design you please! Carefully stretch the dough again to end up with more open holes. Lightly dust the surface of your shaped fougasse and cover them to let them rest one more time for 40-50 minutes for its final proofing. During this time preheat your oven to 500F and place your baking stone in the middle of the oven and your baking pan at the bottom of the oven., this will be your pan to place your ice cubes/water in to steam during baking.

If you don’t have a baking stone, you can flip over a baking sheet and use that to bake on. I also, cut the parchment paper around each formed fougasse so that I could fit more than one on my sheet to bake. At this point you can top your fougasse with your preferred topping: salt, cheese, herbs etc.

When ready to bake, transfer the fougasse with parchment paper onto the baking stone, immediately throw 10 ice cubes or a cup of water into the baking pan, close the oven door and turn down the temperature to 450F. Using the ice cubes will create steam and create a crust to form. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.