Baguettes and Babas

Baguettes and Babas

Olivier Verne, Pastry Chef Instructor from the Culinary Art Institute of Seattle, was at Hot Stove Society recently to teach a brilliant Baguettes class. Olivier is a great pastry chef and teacher. He is also a FIFTH GENERATION French baker from the south of France!

Not only did Olivier demo the whole baguette making process from dough making (including how to handle the mixer; how to feel the dough) to shaping and baking both fougasse and baguettes, he also showed us something very rare and special- how to make the famous Baba au Rhum from Benoit, the oldest bistro in Paris. For all of this, he used the same dough- the ficelle dough from our own Dahlia Workshop Bread Bakery. (A ficelle is a skinny baguette.)

Our guests loved this very technical class, and they loved working with Olivier who is so highly skilled! He showed us how to place sundried tomatoes and anchovies into the fougasse dough and how to shape the traditional cut out patterns.

Babas au Rhum
Babas au Rhum

To make the Babas, Olivier added extra eggs to the ficelle dough. The finished Babas were doused in a simple syrup and brushed with pureed apricot jam. They were split in half and served with a light creme Anglaise and drizzled with more rum syrup. The Babas were delicate and fluffy in texture, but with the structure of bread, not soaked to mushiness. A revelation! Merveilleux!!