Comments on: Pain de Beaucaire

By: Patrishsee

Patrishsee — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:52:31 +0000

After about a year of no sourdough baking due to the preoccupation of retiring, moving, and the joys of being a new grandmother, I decided to dust off the old mason jars and yet again join in the pursuit of wild yeast. I love the process of getting a new starter bubbling away.
I’ve been easing into some of my old standbys, and , yes, I’ve jumped onto the no-knead bandwagon with sticky hands and a new Emile Henry, and, yes, the results are amazing, but, I have ADD….I need different shapes…those dutch oven boules get a little boring. (Sorry)
Well, I came upon your gorgeous pictures and excellent instructions for this Pain De Beaucaire and my heart sang ! Yes ! I can try this !
I have tried it…..three times now, each a success in their own right; good colour, crust and crumb. My first try was rather comical. The loafs came out looking like the hat that the flying nun wore. Okay, too much bran, not enough slurry. These last two attempts have been lovely, impressing husband and dinner party guests. Thank you, Susan. You rock !

By: sydnee

sydnee — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:26:52 +0000

beautiful! Excellent execution as well, I love these unique methods…

By: Jude

Jude — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:58:45 +0000

Thanks for the great photos. This is one of those things that are hard to visualize based on text instructions alone. I couldn’t figure it out just by looking at the SFBI book.

By: Elyse

Elyse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:43:19 +0000

What a unique baking method! This bread looks beautiful, just gorgeous. I’m saving this recipe. I can’t wait to try it out!

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:53:15 +0000

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!

SallyBR, that’s right, just stand the loaf on its side (although this should be done just prior to putting it in the oven, not once it’s in).

Daniel, the slurry is actually pretty thin. Sort of the consistency of a thin milkshake.

By: Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:57:31 +0000

I tried making this yesterday, after taking all week to resurrect my starter. It tasted amazing, but the crumb was a lot more dense than in your photos

I think it’s partly due to me crowding three loaves on a 12″ pizza stone, though, which is also probably why they didn’t brown on top.

Anyway, my real question is about the slurry– it looks pretty thick in your photo, but mine was quite watery. What’s the consistency supposed to be?

I’ll be trying this again, thanks for posting it!

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:13:51 +0000

The bread looks terrific! I have never seen this method. It is going to go on my pile of recipe I want to try. Thanks!

By: derf

derf — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:33:14 +0000

If you ever make it to Boston, you must visit this site for reviews of the some of the best bread (and French bakeries) in the U.S.:

http://wheretogoandwhattodo.blogspot.com

By: Zita

Zita — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:09:01 +0000

O..my… dare I to try to make it??? Sounds like a very interesting technique… and the bread look very beautiful

By: Bharti

Bharti — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:17:01 +0000

Gorgeous gorgeous bread Susan!