Submitted by foolishpoolish on July 8, 2008 - 3:08pm

Pain de Campagne

 

 

This is my take on 'Pain de Campagne'.  It differs from a number of recipes I've read since it uses a natural yeast levain, not commercial yeast. For the rye constituent, I've chosen to use a rye levain rather than adding rye flour in the final mix. If you have a favourite rye starter then please do use it in lieu of the first build. If you have a stiff starter (<100% hydration) then you'll have to adjust the amount of water in the final mix as well as mixing procedure (autolyse the flour, water and salt first, before mixing in the starter)

I find the fragrance and taste to be sweet and almost fruity when eaten fresh (1 hour out of the oven).  This gives way to an earthier taste on the next day. Sourwise you shouldn't notice much (or any) sour at all. It is quite mild but nonetheless I hope you'll find it quite tasty. The crumb should be fairly light and fluffy (compared to other 'rustic' breads).

This bread has become one of my staples partly because it's so convenient. It's easy to make, relatively quick to rise and also fits perfectly with my starter maintenance routine (refreshing the rye starter daily) 

As you can see from the photographs, I attempted to shape the bread as a 'bowtie' variation on a classic tabatiere; an idea which I took from 'Advanced Bread and Pastry'.  The attempt  didn't work as well as I hoped but it made a nice change from the usual boule.  

FP Pain de Campagne Crumb

First Build (Day 1)

10g active starter
75g rye flour (I use whole rye but substitute light or medium according to taste)
75g Water
Mix and allow to mature over a 12 to 24 hour period (very much depends on temperature, activity of starter etc.) It's mature when it has peaked (at least 2 x volume) and should smell fruity (raisins) and yeasty.
I included this first build stage here for anyone who does not keep a rye starter. If you have your own favourite rye starter, please do use it instead. To give some idea of my routine, my starter currently consists of 15g old starter and 200g each of water and rye flour and takes 20-24 hours to mature.

 

Final Mix (Day 2) 

(makes 1 large boule or other shape or 2 small batards)

500g AP flour
300g Water
9g Salt (more or less according to taste)
150g First Build 
Dissolve the salt in the water along and whisk in the rye build from the previous day.
Add the flour to the liquid mix and allow to autolyse or 20 minutes.
Knead until you have at least medium gluten development.
Bulk ferment for 3 hours (be vigilant as this dough has a tendency to rise fast thanks to the rye starter)
Apply stretch and fold 2 times at 40 minute intervals during bulk ferment if you did not reach full windowpane after kneading.
After bulk ferment, divide and shape as desired.
Proof for another 45-60 minutes (in a couche or banneton depending on shape)
Bake with steam at 450 for 10 minutes reducing to 375 for a further 20-30 minutes (until internal temperature reaches 200F)

Enjoy! 

 

FP

Note: if you want a quicker rise and even lighter bread, try making up 200g of first build / rye starter rather than the 150g stated. You could also alter the hydration of the starter to favour yeast reproduction (similar to the first stage of the detmold process)

 

 

 

 

user icon

Lovely!  I did a sourdough

Lovely! 

I did a sourdough version yesterday as well, but based on a very active liquid. Then about 4400g T65 and 70g rye. Did the stretch and fold twice. It was very good! Better than a yeast pain de campagne. I've never been very fond of the yeast version. It's kind of boring. I'll try it based on a pâte fermentée to see the difference.

But as I said on Steve's blog... in France, in a bakery, if you ask for a pain de campagne, the usual thing you'll get is a very light, airy boule with a thin crisp crust.

When i'm in Paris (in ten days) I'll go the the "best" bakeries and see what they are showing.

Jane 

Paris

Paris!  Wow cool!

We'll all be eager to find out what you saw there (and tasted!).  Are you planning to visit Poilane and (one of the several) Kayser boulangeries?

 

user icon

Lucky, Lucky You

Jane,

I know you must be really looking forward to your trip to Paris.  I so love that city...it's truly a "jewel".  If possible, please take some photos of some of the bakeries and share some with us---and most importantly, have a great time in Paris.

Howard

user icon

Sure will, Howard! I'm very

Sure will, Howard! I'm very much looking forward to the trip. I'll only have two days in Paris and a meeting and a lunch, so I hope I'll have some tourist time, too. I haven't been there in almost six years. I'm definitely going to do some bread sampling. And I'll share my find next week.

Jane 

user icon

Hey FP, you've come a long way!

Mini O

Thanks MO

Thanks Mini O, I couldn't have come this far without the great advice and encouragement from you and all the fine folks here at TFL. 

It's still hit and miss on some days. Today, for example, I was all geared up for pizza and made up some dough, but for some reason the starter was not particularly active (it's been a little cooler here but not dramatically so).  The dough ended up being tossed as the gluten structure was starting to fall apart (I tried baking some to test but came up with a circular dough brick). 

Hey ho, anyway there's always tomorrow :)

Cheers for now

FP 

 

user icon

Nice going, FP

You did a very nice job on your pain de compagne...looks great! 

Howard - St. Augustine, FL

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.