Fougasse: Impress your guests with this rustic, easy-to-bake bread

If you think this stunning loaf is beyond your bread-making ability, think again! “The fougasse may look fancy and pretty, but it really is very forgiving and quite simple to make,” baker Babette Frances Kourelos told CBC Life.

The recipe is from her new cookbook, Babette’s Bread: Stories, Recipes, and the Fundamental Techniques of Artisan Bread, and it’s an impressive addition to any dinner party table this season. According to Kourelos, the key to making fougasse is to think of the recipe as a guide while letting the dough’s texture lead the way. If it’s soft and supple, it will be easy to shape, but if it feels rigid or tight and you’re struggling to form it, loosely cover it with cling wrap and let it relax for 15 to 20 minutes. “Don’t fight the dough,” she advises.

Made from cold-fermented focaccia dough, this bread is forgiving. If you're not happy with how the loaf looks after you've shaped it, Kourelos suggests folding it into a loose ball, covering it and waiting an extra 25 to 30 mins before you try again. But, don’t fret if your baked bread doesn’t look exactly like the loaf pictured above — it’s meant to look handmade. “The more rustic and slightly misshapen, the more charming!” she said. “Besides, the incredible flavour will always make up for any slight visual imperfections.” 

Read on to make this bread from scratch, including some in-depth guidance for baking with steam.

Fougasse

By Babette Frances Kourelos

Both the Italian focaccia and the French fougasse are derived from an ancient Roman bread called panis focacius, from the Latin word focus meaning hearth or fireplace. Panis focacius was originally a kind of test bread, baked amongst the embers of the hearth to determine the temperature and readiness of wood-fired ovens. Keep it plain, or top it with a little olive oil, herbs, and salt and pepper. In the south of France, common additions are black olives, garlic, cheese, and anchovies. Slash the dough with a knife or metal bench scraper and stretch it into decorative leafy shapes prior to baking.

Ingredients

1 batch Cold-Fermented Focaccia dough:

• 500 g (4 cups) white bread or all-purpose flour
• 5 g (1 tsp) instant yeast
• 10 g (2 tsp) fine sea salt
• 350-400 g (1½-1¾ cups) water (ice cold, volume depending on the type of flour used)

Additions and toppings:

• 2 large heads of garlic or 200 g Kalamata or black olives (pitted)
• 42 g olive oil
• 10 g fresh thyme
• 5 g salt flakes

Preparation

Makes 1 large or 2 small fougasses

Day 1: Prepare a batch of Cold-Fermented Focaccia dough. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the water and mix until no dry flour is visible. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. (Note: the dough will rise despite the cold conditions so be sure to choose a large enough container.)

Day 2: Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

While the dough is resting, roast the garlic (if using).

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Slice off the top part of the head of garlic to expose the individual cloves. Carefully remove a few layers of the papery outer skin. Place each head of garlic on a piece of tinfoil (approximately 2 × 2 inches), drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Wrap the garlic up in the foil and twist or crimp to close it off at the top. Place each wrapped head of garlic in a ramekin or other oven-safe vessel and roast in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool.

Unwrap the garlic and gently remove (squeeze) the buttery cloves from the outer husk.

Tip the dough out onto a countertop lightly dusted with flour, but do not add more flour to the surface of the dough. Gently stretch the dough out as much as possible — without tearing it. Distribute the roasted garlic (or olives, anchovies, cheese, etc.) and fresh thyme equally across the surface of the dough, then fold the dough up and over itself until you have a little parcel. Thus, the additions will be ensconced within the layers of the dough. This technique is referred to as lamination. Lightly press down on the dough to encourage the layers to stick together. Cover and allow to rest for 45-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. This bread requires steam. (See below for options to create steam.) If you are using the pan method, preheat the pan/skillet as the oven preheats and have a bowl of ice on hand.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour.

If you are making the large fougasse, leave the dough whole. If making the 2 smaller ones, use a metal bench scraper or sharp knife to divide it. You can eyeball the portions or use a kitchen scale if you want the pieces to be of uniform weight and size. Gently lift each piece of dough, stretch it to the desired size and thickness (remember the dough will still rise when baking in the oven), and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Turn the tray so the dough lies horizontally. Using the metal bench scraper, make 3-5 diagonal incisions into the dough, taking care to leave ¾-1¼ inches uncut on either side and not sever the pieces entirely. Angle the cuts so the lines spread outward to resemble a hand-held fan. Gently stretch the dough to open the cuts and give the dough a leafy appearance. Repeat if you have a second piece of dough.

Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with the salt flakes. Bake in the preheated oven with steam for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and crusty. Allow to cool before serving.

Baking with steam

You have dedicated a lot of time and done everything in your power to create the best possible environment for your dough to rise and develop. The same care is required when the dough is finally ready to face the heat of the oven. For the dough to rise to its full potential and achieve optimum “oven spring,” some recipes require a good amount of steam. 

Steam ensures that the outer layer (or skin) of the dough does not dry out and form a crust too quickly. Note that steam is not necessary when baking sandwich loaves and enriched breads which are baked at lower temperatures. By slowing down the crust formation, the dough is given the chance to rise (expand) one last time before turning into a loaf of bread. Without the presence of steam (especially when baking at higher temperatures), the crust will dry out and harden before the dough has risen to its optimum volume. As the loaf bakes, steam builds up inside it, causing it to rise. When the rising dough is trapped by the hardening crust, it usually results in a loaf that is flatter than expected and rather dense and stodgy. Sometimes the dough is forced to exit through weak spots (or shaping flaws), leaving the baker with a rather sad, lopsided looking loaf of bread.

To create sufficient steam to ensure a good oven spring, you have several options: 

Dutch oven

By using a Dutch oven or any other oven-safe vessel with a lid, you do not have to worry about creating steam at all. The environment provided by the closed pot creates a build-up of steam that is sufficient for the dough to rise optimally. As a general rule, the lid of the pot will remain on for the first twenty to thirty minutes and will then be removed, the oven temperature reduced, and the loaf given a further fifteen to twenty minutes to gain sufficient colour and caramelization of the crust. Avid home cooks will be familiar with heavy cast iron vessels (with or without enamel coating), but any oven-safe pot with a lid (including a simple enamel roaster) will easily do the job. Pullman pans function in much the same way and make it very easy to produce uniform sandwich breads. (Note: If you wish to avoid dark or hard crusts, you may choose to leave the lid on for longer.)

Deep roasting pan

Some bakers like to place a heavy stainless steel or cast iron roasting pan at the base of the oven. This method of steam creation requires the pan to heat up while the oven is preheating. Ice cubes or boiling water are then added to the tray to create a good amount of steam.

Water in a spray bottle

A simple plastic spray bottle (often used for plants) can be used to manually spray moisture into the oven during the bake. It is prudent to spray the sides of the oven and to avoid spraying directly on the heating element. Although this is a relatively easy way to create moisture in the oven, it has two downsides: spraying every few minutes can become a little labour intensive, and every time the oven door is opened, some of the heat will be lost.

There are, of course, many other ways of creating steam within the domestic oven and an inventive baker may like to research these. Some modern domestic ovens even come with a built-in steam function, in which case none of the above will be necessary.

Oven temperature

Make sure you preheat the oven as per the instructions in your chosen recipe. However, use your discretion and adjust the oven temperature as necessary. Every oven is different and no one benefits from a burned or underbaked loaf. If you use your oven regularly, you will know whether it tends to bake hotter or cooler than expected. Adjust your baking time and temperature accordingly. A baked loaf will sound hollow when knocked on the underside. When in doubt, allow the loaf to bake a little longer. If the crust is darkening too quickly, you can drop the oven temperature or loosely place a sheet of tinfoil over the top of the loaf. Most breads will be baked on the middle rack, with the exception of pizza, which requires a quick and very hot bake and therefore does better on the bottom rack (close to the element).

Recipe by Babette Frances Kourelos from Babette’s Bread, copyright © 2024 by Babette Frances Kourelos. Reprinted with permission of TouchWood Editions.