Okay, so I finally got around to doing some proper baking this weekend. I’d been seeing a lot about Francine flour recipes baking stuff online, and figured, why not give it a shot? Been meaning to bake some simple bread anyway.
Getting Started
First things first, I pulled out the Francine flour I bought. Got the T55 type, I think? Seemed like a good all-rounder. Then I gathered the usual suspects:
- Yeast
- A bit of sugar
- Salt
- Warm water
- The Francine flour, of course
Nothing fancy, just wanted to see how this flour handled in a basic recipe. Measured everything out. I didn’t follow a super strict recipe from their site this time, more like my usual method but just swapping in their flour.
Mixing and Kneading
Dumped the flour into my big mixing bowl. Made a little well in the middle, like you do. Activated the yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar. Waited till it got foamy, then poured that into the well along with the salt.
Started mixing it all together with a wooden spoon first, then got my hands in there once it started coming together. It felt… pretty good actually. Nice and soft. Kneading took about 10 minutes on the counter. Just pushing, folding, turning. The usual workout. The dough felt quite smooth by the end, maybe a bit sticky but manageable.
The Waiting Game (Proofing)
Shaped the dough into a ball, lightly oiled the bowl, plopped the dough back in, turned it over to coat it. Covered it with a damp cloth and stuck it somewhere warm-ish. My kitchen isn’t exactly tropical, so I just left it near the stove which was off but still a tiny bit warmer than the rest of the room. Checked on it after about an hour, maybe a bit more. It had definitely puffed up, maybe doubled? Looked about right.
Shaping and Baking
Punched the air out gently. Turned it onto the counter again, gave it a quick knead, then shaped it into a sort of rustic loaf shape. Nothing perfect. Placed it on my baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let it rest again for maybe 30-40 minutes while the oven preheated. Slashed the top a few times with a knife – makes it look professional, right?
Then, into the hot oven it went. The house started smelling amazing pretty quickly. That fresh bread smell is just the best. Baked it until it was golden brown and sounded hollow when I tapped the bottom. Pulled it out and let it cool on a wire rack. This is always the hardest part – waiting for it to cool before slicing!
The Result
Finally cut into it. The crust was nice and crisp, not too thick. Inside? Pretty soft crumb, decent texture. Tasted good! Just a simple, honest loaf of bread. The Francine flour worked out fine for this basic baking experiment. I’d say it was a success. Definitely going to try some more specific Francine flour recipes baking projects next time, maybe something a bit more challenging.
