Blackout

That’s what I did when I found out the challenge for February. Bake bread? Like Julia Child??? I panicked. Once I regained my senses (and consciousness) I decided that I would follow through with the challenge. Say it with me now, “I’m a Daring Baker… I’m a Daring Baker…”

So the King and I got to work:

I do have a dough hook but I decided that I would take a shot at working the dough using the hand method.

Everything seems to be going as planned. Time to let the dough rise at around 70 degrees. We use a wood stove for heat so that shouldn’t be a problem.

If you can’t read that thermometer, it is 70 degrees EXACTLY. Perfect temperature! This is what I’d like to call The Sweetness – it just doesn’t get any better than that. The dough didn’t seem to complain – it rose to the occasion (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) and looked pretty good after the first 2 risings.
Prior to this challenge I was not familiar with fancy-schmancy French terms such as “Batards”, “Ficelles”, “Boules” and “Petit Pains.” I’m just a regular gal from Jersey who uses words like loaf, slice, biscuit…you catch my drift. So I had to consult an expert for the fancy words.

I decided to go with Petits Pains - round or oval loaves (whatever shape they decided to be).

I think they look great, but they taste pretty darn good too!

I’m glad I followed through with this challenge. Maybe I was afraid of the time frame, but the bread did most of the work on its own while I did other things. I think it was worth it because I got a lot of compliments on my creations and now I can say that I got mad bread-baking skills! HOLLA!!!