Champagne Baguette 

This baguette has a beautiful rustic flavor from rye flour. Rye adds a subtle earthy note and changes how the dough behaves—no autolyse here. Instead, I use a technique called bassinage, adding part of the water later in mixing. It helps with gluten development and gives the dough a soft, stretchy feel.

Note: Flour selection plays a huge role in baguette making. I usually use Bagatelle T65 — a French-style flour with great strength and flavor. Here are its specs (according to the miller): W protein: ~240–280, Protein: ~10.5–11.5%, Ash content: ~0.62%. This flour gives a nice balance: enough strength to hold an open crumb, but still delicate enough for a thin, crisp crust.

If you’re using a different T65 flour, you might need to adjust water slightly—every flour hydrates differently. Let’s bake.

Adapted from “All About Baguette” book by Jean-Marie Lanio & Jeremy Ballester

Ingredients

Makes 6 baguettes

• 900g French flour (T65)

• 100g rye flour (T130)

• 650g water A

• 70g water B

• 23g salt

• 5g fresh yeast or 1.5g dry instant yeast

• 250g sourdough starter

Directions 

Day 1

Dough

• In the morning prepare the sourdough starter: dissolve starter in the water, whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover and let it sit at room temp 74-78F until it increases in volume in 2 or more times. Learn how to make sourdough starter from scratch here.
• In the evening: Combine all the ingredients except water B in a mixer: flours, water A, salt, yeast, and levain. Mix for 3 minutes on low speed. Then 5 more minutes on low, and 3 minutes on medium speed. (Dough temp should be around 24°C.)
• Then add water B slowly. Mix until it came together smooth and stretchy. The dough will feel soft and slightly sticky—normal for this recipe.

Note: Every flour absorbs water a little differently.If your dough feels too firm, add a bit more water (a tablespoon at a time). If it’s too loose, hold back a little next time. Bagatelle T65 handles this hydration well—but always adjust to your flour.

• Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled container.
• Let it rest for 45 minutes at room temperature (23–24°C).
• Then give it a gentle fold: lift one side and fold it over. Rotate the container, fold again. Do this from all four sides, then flip the dough over—smooth side up.
• Covere the container and place it in the fridge (3°C) for about 15 hours.
• This long, cold proof gives the dough a richer flavor and a better crumb.

Day 2

• Take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up for about 1 hour.
• Turn it out onto a floured surface (I used T65 flour).
• Gently press it down and divided into 330g pieces.
• Pre-shaped into ovals: Fold the top two-thirds down.Then fold in half and seal the seam with the heel of your hand.
• Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, covered.

Shaping

• Gently flatten each piece to pop big air bubbles. Fold the top edge down two-thirds again.
• Rotate the dough and repeat.
• Then fold it in half, sealing with the thumb and the heel of your hand.
• Roll from the center out until it was about 50–54 cm long, with pointed ends.

Final proof 

• Place the baguettes seam-side up on a floured couche.
• Let them proof at room temperature for about 1 hour.
• They were ready when a light press left a small indentation.

• Preheat the oven to 250°C (top and bottom).
• Flip the baguettes seam-side down onto a flipping board.
• Dust with T65 flour.
• Score each one with 4 long diagonal cuts at a 45° angle.
• Load into the oven.
• Add steam for first 10 min
• Bake for 20-22 minutes.(If you’re using a convection oven, use a baking stone instead of a tray.)
• Transfer to a wire rack.
• Let them cool completely before slicing—if you can wait that long.

Enjoy!

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