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Bread

Chocolate Praline Babka

February 20, 2021 by SouthernShelle Leave a Comment

2021 is the year that I finally admit to myself that I am a bread baker.  I’ve been sort of non-committal about which area of baking is my favorite, in the same way that people don’t say they have a favorite child, but they do.   I’m finally admitting to the world that bread is my favorite.  It was clear when I wrote out my baking bucket list for the year that 2021 is going to be the year of bread.   High on this list– babka!  

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Filed Under: Bread Tagged With: Babka, Bread

Brioche Buns

September 30, 2019 by SouthernShelle Leave a Comment

Brioche. Brioche Brioche.  Nothing is better than a toasted brioche bun. I often wish that “fresh brioche bun” was a candle scent. Especially when I don’t have a ton of time to bake. The smell of fresh bread is undefeated.

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Filed Under: Bread, Savory Tagged With: Bread

Focaccia

May 13, 2019 by SouthernShelle Leave a Comment

2018 was the year of the Focaccia.  Outside of a couple of different types of cinnamon rolls, bread baking wasn’t really on my radar.  Then, my brother turned into a bread-making savant and I took class on pizza-making. Automatically hooked.  Bread making is supremely satisfying. You start with simple ingredients of flour, water, yeast and salt and along with a bit of patience and end up with something quite amazing. …

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Filed Under: Bread Tagged With: Bread, Focaccia

Croissants {Progress Post}

February 5, 2019 by SouthernShelle Leave a Comment

  

{Progress Posts are a chance for me to look back and acknowledge my baking development.  For these posts, I won’t share a recipe, but I might discuss a technique or strategy behind my baking.  In an “insta perfect” world,  I think it’s important to show the completely failures and the resulting growth from the lessons learned. } 

12 years ago (it feels just like yesterday), Jamie and I spent a week in Paris.  It was my first time out of the country. We did all of the “touristy’ things: the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, etc. But what I remember the most was the little patisserie around the corner from our low-budget hotel.  I ate a plain croissant from that patisserie every single day. It was a carb/bread-lover’s dream. …

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Filed Under: Bread, Progress Posts Tagged With: Bread, Croissants, Progress Posts

Bread Bowls

January 29, 2019 by SouthernShelle Leave a Comment

 

Bread bowls are the best bowls.  It’s a win -win. I have bread and a bowl and there are fewer dishes to wash. What’s not to love? Clearly, I am not going to be starting the Keto diet any time soon.   How many people in your life are doing Keto? It’s literally everywhere.  Someone began to tell me what you can’t eat and I stopped them pretty quickly and asked them to tell me what they CAN eat, things went much faster then.  Big props if you can stop eating carbs and fruit, seriously. I just love bread too much y’all and fruit (also known as pie)….

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Filed Under: Bread Tagged With: Artisan, Bread, Savory

Mini White Chocolate Baguettes

November 29, 2018 by SouthernShelle 13 Comments

Have you ever had a mini white chocolate baguette?

It seems weird, right? Right.  The funny thing is that this is the last thing I ever expected to be my favorite thing at La Farm Bakery in Cary, NC.  The bakery is located in a strip mall that includes a nail salon and a liquor store.

Once you get inside you realize you are in a legit French bakery filled with pastry, croissants and loaves of artisanal breads.   It’s almost impossible to make a rational decision when you are in the line, because EVERYTHING is compelling.   In order to keep my budget in tact, I use the buddy system.   A responsible person needs to ask me if I actually need a container of pimento cheese and the seasonal sugar cookie AND the homemade Jam made by someone named Dorothy.

My first four trips to La Farm, I was focused on the La Farm sourdough and the croissants.  Who has time for a white chocolate baguette when there are croissants?!?!?   White Chocolate + Baguette is an unlikely pairing that will change your life and ruin your Keto diet forever.

I took a group baking class with the Master Chef Lionel Vatinet  and basically I lost my mind.

  1. I showed  him pictures on my phone of:
    • the awful croissants (the butter was too warm)
    • the focaccia ( good bubbles!)
  2. I asked him to autograph (2!) cookbooks
  3. Took a picture with him, which I shared on  Instagram immediately.
  4. Made suggestions to the marketing lady about all of the classes that I would attend.

I literally did not have a single ounce of shame.  The poor marketing lady asked me if I was in marketing. When I told her I was a lawyer, y’all the look on her face was priceless!

The La Farm Cookbook was my real introduction to bread baking.  I’ve tended to focus more on the sweet side of the baking spectrum, and realized that bread baking is technical and requires precision, but despite the rules, you are making edible art.

A couple of process notes:

  1. Scoring aka the slash marks.  It seems straight forward, you slash the dough about 1/8 of inch deep with a razor blade or sharp knife. Sounds simple enough, but I didn’t have a razor blade or  knife sharp enough at the time, and got the weirdly deep slashes you see above.   I ordered a lame on Amazon thinking that would solve the problem, but learning to score properly takes practice and well shaped dough.
  2. Shaping.  I didn’t want to be too rough with my dough and in the end the shape is decent, but not tight enough.  Practice makes perfect.
  3. I recommend using  a large pizza stone with a steel bowl to make these.  At the time I only had a 7 1/2 Qt Oval Dutch oven so I made 2 baguettes at a time.  It took forever.

**Please note that I am not in anyway affiliated with La Farm unless you count frequent trips for breakfast and brunch and bread.

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Mini White Chocolate Baguettes

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: adapted from Passion for Bread by Lionel Vatinet
  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 8 baguettes 1x
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Description

Famous La Farm Mini White Chocolate Baguettes


Scale

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces white bread flour
  • 1 .5 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1.5 tsp instant yeast
  • 11.25 ounces warm water ((65 to 70 degrees F) )
  • 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Kitchen Supplies

  • kitchen aid mixer with dough hook and paddle attachments
  • pizza stone
  • large stainless steel bowl
  • food thermometer
  • bench scraper
  • parchment paper
  • lame/ razor blade/ very sharp knife

Instructions

  1. In a stand mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and yeast.  Do not let the yeast and the salt touch. 
  2. Check the temperature of your water to make sure it’s 65 to 70 degrees.  
  3. Using the paddle attachment on the stand mixer, turn the mixer on the stir setting to whisk the dry ingredients together. 
    Then slowly add in the water and mix until a dough begins to form. Scrape down the sides of the bowl  to make sure all the dough is fully incorporated. 
    Switch out  the paddle attachment for the dough hook and knead on medium speed for approximately 5 minutes.  
  4. On a very lightly dusted work surface, flatten the dough into a rectangle and sprinkle the white chocolate evenly, then fold the dough over the chocolate pieces, like an envelope — lengthwise first, then fold the short side in– resulting in completely incorporated white chocolate chips. 
  5. Form the dough into a ball by lifting the front and folding it over and pulling it across the counter top 4 or 5 times until a ball forms.   It will be ready to proof when the the dough is no longer sticky to the touch. 
  6. Lightly dust a large bowl with flour, place the dough ball in the bowl smooth side up and cover with plastic wrap.  Place the bowl in a warm spot (75 to 85 degrees– like the inside of your microwave) 
    Let the dough rise for 1 hour, or until almost doubled in size
  7. Using your bowl scraper, remove the dough from the large bowl and onto a clean lightly floured countertop.  Let the dough relax for a minute, and then use a bench scraper to stretch the dough into a 12 x 4 inch rectangle.  Cut the dough with the bench scraper into 8 pieces. 
  8. Shape mini loaves into a batard shape — reference the video linked above.  Place the mini loaves on to a baking sheet with parchment paper, 4 loaves per sheet pan.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Then set the baking sheets in a warm  (75 to 80 degrees F) draft free place for 1 hour. 
  9. 30 minutes into the second rise, place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. 
  10. Before baking, score the baguettes with a sharp razor blade; lame  or knife, cutting the skin 1/4 inch into the dough.   Slide 4 loaves on the parchment paper on to the pizza stone and cover with a large stainless steel bowl.   Bake for 10 minutes then remove the bowl carefully, with oven mitts and the a large knife.  Let the baguettes bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes
  11. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 1 hour. 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @southernshellebakes on Instagram and hashtag it #southernshellebakes

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Bread, Breakfast Tagged With: Baguettes, Bread, Cary, La Farm, North Carolina, White Chocolate Chips

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Hey, Y’all

I'm Richelle. I'm a working mom that got bit by the baking bug. When I'm not doing my day job, or cutting strawberries for my 5 year old, I'm probably in the kitchen throwing together some combination of flour, sugar and butter. Welcome to my baking journey.

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