Bread & Brioche Archive
Cours de BoulangerieDans la famille Coquelicot, je voudrais le pain!
H&H Bagels in Paris
Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns, Take II
Kouglof
La Baguette et les Tartines
La Baguette, par Jean-Paul Gaultier
La Meilleure Baguette de Paris
La Paume
Le Pain qu'on ne pétrit pas
Natural Starter Bread
Norlander Bread
Pain Chocolat Orange
Pain Complet aux Olives
Pain Spécial
Petit Pain Ananas Violette
Petit pain au pavot pour les tricheuses
Petites Brioches
Sourdough Bagels
Sourdough English Muffins
November 4, 2009
Sourdough Bagels
When Maxence and I were in San Francisco late last summer, we had bagels for breakfast every single day. There were a couple of bagel shops not far from where we were staying, so we alternated between the two, and on those mornings that we went for a run through the Golden Gate Park, bagels awaited at a busy coffee shop by the ocean. I like mine...
"Sourdough Bagels" continues »
September 29, 2009
Sourdough English Muffins
Due to my ever-widening enthusiasm for breadmaking, I have become a close follower of the Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge, wherein a group of bakers bakes its way through Peter Reinhart's revered opus and blogs about the results, with numerous details and step-by-step photos. This makes for fascinating posts if you're into that sort of thing, ...
"Sourdough English Muffins" continues »
July 7, 2009
Natural Starter Bread
[Pain au levain naturel] If you keep an eye on my Twitter feed or subscribe to the C&Z newsletter, you already know that I've been trying my hand at natural starter bread for the past two months. A natural starter, also called a sourdough starter, is a culture of wild yeasts and friendly bacteria that the baker keeps alive and thriving by feedi...
"Natural Starter Bread" continues »
March 31, 2009
Kouglof
Do you remember Muriel, from Muriel's Chicken? She's a good friend of Maxence's mother's who lives with her family in Le Perche, and whom we've been visiting every year or so with immense pleasure, and frequent sighs of contentment. Last time we went was in the fall, and Muriel's two lovely daughters had just started their school year; because t...
November 30, 2006
Le Pain qu'on ne pétrit pas
[No-Knead Bread] Complete fiascoes are few and far between in my kitchen. I'm not sure whom to thank for this -- my lucky star, my karma, my mom? -- but the fact is that the things I cook or bake very rarely end up in the trash. I have disappointments of course, dishes that turn out a bit meh despite my high hopes, but nothing quite as débâcle-l...
"Le Pain qu'on ne pétrit pas" continues »
November 22, 2006
Cours de Boulangerie
[Bread Baking Class] Hi, my name is Clotilde, and I have conquered my fear of yeast. For years and years, everytime a recipe called for yeast -- dry, instant, fresh, whatever -- I would write it off with a resigned sigh, like the plain teenaged girl writes off the popular unkempt boy, thinking, "He's not for me." I didn't know the moves, I did...
"Cours de Boulangerie" continues »
April 17, 2006
Hot Cross Buns, Take II
If you have a book to write, I recommend hiding out for a few days in the comfort of a mountain house, preferably in a region where spring is a bit tardy, so the weather will make it easy for you to stay in and type. For fresh air, throw in a few healthy walks to spot the first daffodils (the mist will also make your hair nice and wavy) and a few...
"Hot Cross Buns, Take II" continues »
March 30, 2006
La Meilleure Baguette de Paris
[The Best Baguette in Paris] ...and it's not even me saying it, but the good members of the jury in the 2006 edition of the yearly Grand Prix de la Baguette Parisienne. The winner is Jean-Pierre Cohier, whose bakery is just off the Place des Ternes: this was his fourth time competing, and he received the distinction for his baguette called Tradi...
"La Meilleure Baguette de Paris" continues »
March 27, 2006
Petites Brioches
Amongst the many good things a food blog will do to you, is this one: even when you feel you are completely ruining a recipe, your mind is already working on how to turn this potential disaster into what you hope will be an entertaining, tale-of-a-near-fiasco post for your readers -- a much more constructive way to look at the situation than curl...
"Petites Brioches" continues »
January 20, 2006
Petit Pain Ananas Violette
[Violet Pineapple Bread Roll] "Dear Ms. Clotilde, In our continued effort to keep you bread-happy and entertained, we have just added a new variety to our collection of little bread rolls. This one is flavored with violet essence, which may remind you of those candies you and your father like to eat in the car, and it has tiny chunks of pinea...
"Petit Pain Ananas Violette" continues »
October 14, 2005
Pain Spécial
I can hear you thinking: "Hm, could this be a pain au chocolat? Is that a bit of ganache coming out from the side? ...then again it looks a bit like black olives, no?" You have a point. They are indeed black olives, and the little guy on the picture is an olive and tomato pain spécial, purchased at Pain de Sucre, a previously mentioned pastry st...
September 16, 2005
H&H Bagels in Paris
I love a good bagel: what's not to like? Big, chewy, yeasty, and so generously sprinkled with interesting stuff for textural contrast. I like the top as much as the bottom, but the hole in the middle has to be the best part. I first discovered bagels when we moved to the US, in the form of pre-sliced blueberry bagels from the grocery store -- ...
"H&H Bagels in Paris" continues »
September 14, 2005
La Paume
I first heard about this bread last spring, when I had lunch at Alain Passard's temporary Végétable restaurant and a leaflet at the register piqued my curiosity. La Paume (which means palm, as in "the palm of your hand") is a naturally leavened bread created by Alain Passard, the chef from L'Arpège, and a family-owned flour mill just outside of ...
August 16, 2005
Dans la famille Coquelicot, je voudrais le pain!
[In the Poppy family, I would like the bread!*] Coquelicot is the name of a bakery on Place des Abbesses, a couple of blocks away from our apartment. Their baguettes are fabulous and hold a special place in our hearts and our bread rotation. In addition to baguettes, Coquelicot makes a variety of specialty breads over the course of the week. And...
"Dans la famille Coquelicot, je voudrais le pain!" continues »
June 15, 2005
Petit pain au pavot pour les tricheuses
[Cheater's Poppyseed Roll] In September of last year, when Maxence and I were spending some time in Alsace, we went shopping once in a supermarket in Munster. Yes, we did, can you imagine that? I mean -- what fun! Actually, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that on vacation, I'm always happy to browse the aisles of local grocery stores, studying...
"Petit pain au pavot pour les tricheuses" continues »
May 3, 2005
La Baguette et les Tartines
Consider the baguette. Or rather, consider the tartine de baguette, a popular breakfast item in which a piece of baguette -- preferably fresh and bought moments before, still warm, from the corner boulangerie, but if nobody really feels up to going out before breakfast day-old baguette will do fine, "freshened up" on top of the toaster -- is sl...
"La Baguette et les Tartines" continues »
January 20, 2005
Norlander Bread
When I step into a boulangerie, or admittedly when I simply walk by one, I always give the bread shelves a quick once-over, to see if anything looks particularly good and/or unusual. It is sometimes a bit of a challenge to glance behind the boulangère, her counter, and the other customers (some of whom seem to think I'm trying to skip the line an...
June 29, 2004
La Baguette, par Jean-Paul Gaultier
[The Baguette, by Jean-Paul Gaultier] What you see here is a baguette created by Jean-Paul Gaultier, as indicated by the signature navy blue stripes. Well, see, I can't just eat any old baguette, it has to have some style, you know? I bought it at an art show that just opened at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, a beautiful exhibition hall on th...
"La Baguette, par Jean-Paul Gaultier" continues »
May 25, 2004
Pain Chocolat Orange
[Chocolate Orange Bread] I bought this loaf of bread at the BoulangEpicier the other day. I've mentioned that store before, and it continues to be a favorite of mine : whenever I'm in the area I make sure to stop there, to buy some bread or grab one of their pricy but mind-blowing sandwiches. I have also adroitly albeit heavily hinted at my ne...
"Pain Chocolat Orange" continues »
April 13, 2004
Hot Cross Buns
My family has always been very fond of British baked goods. Marks & Spencer's has sadly closed off all their French stores, but when it was still around [deep sigh of nostalgia], we were their most faithful customers for English muffins, crumpets, mince-meat pies and hot cross buns, to be enjoyed with tea in the afternoon. Only recently did I fi...
February 11, 2004
Pain Complet aux Olives
Le Pétrin Médiéval is a little bakery close to our place. The name means "the medieval kneading-trough", which doesn't sound half as nice, I'm afraid. They happen to be the bread suppliers for Rose Bakery, where you can enjoy their excellent "pain intégral" with your salad. Le Pétrin Médiéval sells an array of rustic breads and no-frills pastrie...
"Pain Complet aux Olives" continues »