Fougasse

Ingredients for Fougasse

• 1 cuillère à café de sucre

• 120ml warm water (105–46°C)

• 2 cuillères à café de levure sèche active (d'un paquet de 1/110g)

• 60g de farine ordinaire

• 2 cuillères à soupe de sucre

• 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt

• 1 teaspoon anise seeds, lightly crushed

• 160 ml d'eau

• 2 teaspoons orange-flower water (preferably French)

• 1 cuillère à café de zeste d'orange frais finement râpé

• 80ml mild extra-virgin olive oil (preferably French) plus 1 tablespoon for brushing

• 400g unbleached plain flour plus additional for kneading

• 1 1/2 teaspoons flaky or coarse sea salt

• a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment

Stir together sugar and warm water in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Whisk flour into yeast mixture until combined well. Let starter rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, 30 minutes.

Add sugar, salt, crushed anise seeds, water, orange-flower water, zest, 80ml oil, and 650ml flour to starter and beat at medium speed until smooth. Mix in remaining 250g flour, 60g at a time, at low speed until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, sprinkling surface lightly with flour if dough is very sticky, until smooth and elastic (dough will remain slightly sticky), 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled large bowl, turning dough to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve. Pat out each half into an oval (about 12 inches long and 1/4 inch thick), then transfer to 2 lightly oiled large baking sheets.

Using a very sharp knife or a pastry scraper, make a cut down centre of each oval "leaf," cutting all the way through to baking sheet and leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cut. Make 3 shorter diagonal cuts on each side of original cut, leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cuts, to create the look of leaf veins (do not connect cuts). Gently pull apart cuts about 1 1/2 inches with your fingers. Let dough stand, uncovered, until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 191°C.

Brush loaves with remaining tablespoon oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake, switching position of baking sheets halfway through baking, until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 35 to 40 minutes total. Transfer loaves to a rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Avertissement

Bien que tous les efforts aient été faits pour garantir que les informations sont exactes et à jour, les besoins individuels peuvent varier et les exigences alimentaires peuvent différer en fonction des conditions de santé personnelles. Vérifiez toujours les étiquettes des aliments et les informations sur les allergènes avant de préparer ou de consommer une recette. Si vous avez des préoccupations spécifiques en matière de santé, des allergies, des intolérances, ou si vous suivez un régime prescrit médicalement, demandez conseil à votre médecin généraliste, pharmacien ou à un diététicien agréé avant d'apporter des changements significatifs à votre régime alimentaire ou à votre mode de vie.