Fougasse

Why this recipe works If ever there was a bread made for crust lovers, it has to be fougasse. Revered by professional bakers, this loaf is still relatively unknown to everyday cooks, at least outside its home territory of Provence. It is related by name and pedigree to focaccia, which comes from just over the border in Italy. But unlike its Italian cousin, fougasse gets an elegant twist: After being stretched and flattened, the dough is given a series of cuts, usually in fanciful geometric patterns, to create multiple openings in the finished flatbread and give it a leaf shape. As pretty as the sculpted breads are, the openings are not just for aesthetics: They dramatically increase the crust-to-crumb ratio so that nearly every bite includes an equal share of crisp crust and tender, airy interior. The cuts also help the bread bake very quickly. Most bakeries don’t make a separate dough for fougasse. Instead, they simply repurpose extra dough from some other product, such as baguettes. We decided to follow suit and started with our Bakery-Style French Baguette recipe, and then changed up the shaping. To make shaping the fougasse easy, we rolled it out with a rolling pin so that the dough was level, transferred it to parchment, and cut into it with a pizza cutter, which proved the perfect-size implement. The fougasse looked flawless, but the substantial crust was too hard and tough. We tried adding olive oil to the dough, as we’d seen in some recipes, to soften it, but this eliminated any crispness. Brushing the dough with oil before it went into the oven worked much better, producing a delicate, almost fried crunch and even browning that complemented a rosemary and sea salt topping. If you can’t find King Arthur all-purpose flour, you can substitute bread flour. The fougasses are best eaten within 4 hours of baking.

MAKES: 2 loaves

RESTING TIME: 30 minutes to 1 hour

RISING TIME: 18½ minutes to 19 hours

BAKING TIME: 36 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 20¾ to 21¾ hours, plus 20 minutes cooling time

KEY EQUIPMENT: 2 rimmed baking sheets, rolling pin, pizza cutter, baking stone, pastry brush

INGREDIENTS:

• ¼ cup (1 ⅓ ounces) whole-wheat flour
• 3 cups (15 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1½ cups (12 ounces) water, room temperature
• cornmeal or semolina flour
• ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Sift whole-wheat flour through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl of a stand mixer; discard the bran remaining in the strainer. Whisk all-purpose flour, salt, and yeast into the mixer bowl. Using the dough hook on low speed, slowly add water to the flour mixture and mix until a cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, 5 to 7 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased large bowl or container, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let it rise for 30 minutes.
2. Using a greased bowl scraper (or your fingertips), fold the dough over itself by gently lifting and folding the edge of the dough toward the middle. Turn the bowl 45 degrees and fold the dough again; repeat turning the bowl and folding the dough 6 more times (a total of 8 folds). Cover tightly with plastic and let it rise for 30 minutes. Repeat the folding and rising every 30 minutes, 3 more times. After the fourth set of folds, cover the bowl tightly with plastic and refrigerate for at least 16 hours or up to 48 hours.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter, press it into an 8-inch round (do not deflate), and divide it in half. Working with one piece of dough at a time, gently stretch and fold over 3 sides of the dough to create a rough triangle with 5-inch sides. Transfer the triangles seam side down to a lightly floured rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with greased plastic, and let them rest until no longer cool to the touch, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Invert a second rimmed baking sheet, line it with parchment paper, and dust it liberally with cornmeal. Transfer one piece of dough to a lightly floured counter and gently roll it into a triangular shape with an 8-inch base and 10-inch sides, about ½ inch thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared sheet, with the base facing the short side of the sheet.
5. Using a pizza cutter, make a 6-inch-long cut down the center of the triangle, through the dough to the sheet, leaving about 1½ inches at either end.
6. Make three 2- to 3-inch diagonal cuts through the dough on each side of the center cut, leaving a 1-inch border on each end of the cuts, to create a leaf-vein pattern (the cuts should not connect to one another or to the edges of the dough).
7. Gently stretch the dough toward the sides of the sheet to widen the cuts and emphasize the leaf shape; the overall size of the loaf should measure about 10 by 12 inches. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let it rise until nearly doubled in size, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Twenty minutes after shaping the first loaf, repeat steps 4 through 7 with the second piece of dough. (Staggering the shaping of the loaves will allow them to be baked in succession.)
8. One hour before baking, adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position, place the baking stone on the rack, and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Brush the top and sides of the first loaf with 2 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle the loaf evenly with 1½ teaspoons of rosemary and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Slide the parchment with the loaf onto the baking stone and bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the loaf halfway through baking. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack, discard the parchment, and let it cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Repeat the topping and baking process with the second loaf.

VARIATIONS:

FOUGASSE WITH ASIAGO AND BLACK PEPPER 

• Omit rosemary and sea salt. Sprinkle each loaf with 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper and ½ cup finely grated Asiago cheese before baking.

FOUGASSE WITH BACON AND GRUYERE 

• Cook 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces, in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate. Omit rosemary and sea salt. Add bacon to mixer bowl with flour in step 1. Sprinkle each loaf with ½ cup shredded Gruyère cheese before baking.

OLIVE FOUGASSE

• Add 1 cup coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives to mixer bowl with flour in step 1.