pain de campagne - bread baker's apprentice challenge #22

Judging by this initial picture, you may think that bread number 22 of the bread baker's apprentice challenge was a success. I mean, look at that profile. Airy - check, light - check, colour - half check....but that's where the story goes south.

Proofing in the early morning sun.

What had me most excited about bread #22 were the shaping possibilities. In fact, Peter just so happens to mention that Pain de Campagne is an excellent dough for such an adventure, combined with world-class flavour and texture.

Take for example this lovely piece. First shaped into a batard, the bread is pressed with a small piece of dowel before sprinkling with flour. The crease will give the final bread, a very distinct 'split' look. But it didn't. No fault of the bread though, this mistake was all me. After I completed shaping the sections of dough (one fendu, one tabatiere, and one epi), I was called away for more important things. Thinking I would only be an hour or two, I left the house only to forget about my dough and arrive back 6 hours later.

Tragedy had stuck the dough. It had over proofed, and looked all bloated sitting there on my dining room table. I didn't really have any other option but to bake off the bread, so I tried my best to shape things and filled the house with heat at 10 o'clock at night. Finally with everything baked, I went to bed hoping this bread adventure was just a bad dream.

But it wasn't. The bread was decent enough, but after a long day of proofing and a night on the counter, I was just glad to be done with it. Definitely a bread I'll come back to eventually, but not before I create a memory erasing gadget.