pane francese

Having had mixed results with recipes that assume I know more than I do, I got Baking Artisan Bread which is well reviewed for beginners and which features a troubleshooting section.

Yesterday I started the “try this if you’re a beginner” recipe for pane francese. It started with making a biga: a stiff dough of flour, yeast and water.

This morning I cut up the biga and added it to warm water

and the rest of the flour.

After the first proving, I tipped it out and cut it into 2″ square-ishes.

Mmm.