Will make 3 baguettes
Ingredients
500g strong white flour
350ml water
7g dried yeast or 15g fresh yeast
10g salt
Method
Place the flour into a bowl, then place the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other making sure they don't come into contact with each other.
Pour the water over the salt first, then using your hand or a mixer start to mix the dough. When you have a ball of dough on your hand and the bowl is relatively clean of dough, transfer to a clean work top
Knead for 10 minutes until you have a smooth manageable dough (if your dough is quite sticky, don’t worry it's meant to be, stick at it and keep kneading and lots of stretching).
Return the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover with cling film.
Place the dough into the fridge and leave overnight.
Scoop the dough out onto a clean worktop and knock out all the air by kneading so you have a nice smooth dough.
Divide the ball into three equal portions, and using as little flour as possible roll out the portions of dough into long thin baguette shapes.
The key to great shaped baguettes is to use as little flour as possible and lots of pressure onto the dough as you roll from the middle outwards until you get a point at each end.
Place the rolled out bread into the baguette perfo tray.
Place the breads somewhere cool to prove and double in size, it should take about 3-4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 220oC, using a spray gun cover the bread with a mist of water to help develop the crust.
Make 4-5 small cuts into the top of the bread and then bake for 20 minutes until golden and crisp.
Tip: To bring a day old baguette back to life, spray it with a little water and pop it back into the oven for 5 minutes at 200C.
