A Fougasse And Epi De Ble For Thanksgiving

Two breads for Thanksgiving. First, a few epi de ble:

And a big fougasse:

Epi de Blé, Take Two. Closer To The Truth.

by A.J. Coltrane

Attempt #2 at Epi bread:

It’s basically just a baguette recipe: 400g Bread Flour, 240g water (60%), 9g kosher salt (2.25%) 3/4 tsp instant yeast. 425F oven for 22 minutes.

The shape is better this time around. Each Epi contains less flour — 200 grams (1/2 lb) of flour per epi. (Instead of 300 grams of flour as in Take One.)

I think maybe the “right” answer is 150 grams of flour per 18″ Epi. Baking at 450F and adding malt might help the appearance as well.

Still. Better this time. “Better” is good.

Epi de Blé, Take One

by A.J. Coltrane

1st attempt at Epi de Blé (sheaf of wheat):

The finished result is a long way from the “flower of wheat” idealized form. (Search “epi bread” for examples.)

The recipe is basically a standard baguette dough that is cut with scissors. I used 300 grams of flour for the dough. That was too much. As a guess, 200 grams would have made a thinner, more “graceful” epi.

Recommended temperatures run between 400F and 450F. I went with 425F for 20 minutes, which seemed to work out ok.

The Verdict: It’s a nice pull-apart bread for dinner or a crowd. The shape creates a high ratio of crust, so there are more crunchy bits to go around. It’s easy, attractive, and festive. I’ll be making this again soon, and probably a bunch of times through the holidays.