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Making Artisan Bread

True hand-crafted breads are made with four basic ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. Sourdough is sometimes used in place of the yeast and other flavorings such as cheese, fruit, nuts, herbs and spices may be added for variety. The main differences in these breads is the technique used.

Types of Artisan Breads:

There are many types of hand-crafted loaves. To see examples of the different types, click on the bread type below or view recipes for Artisan Loaves .

Bagel: Made with simple ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast and formed into a donut shape, raised, boiled, then baked. Using malted barley syrup in the boiling water adds flavor and shine.

Baguette: A long, thin loaf with diagonal slashes that is often made with nothing more than flour, yeast, salt, and water. The word means "wand" in French and is usually baked free-form on a stone or baking sheet, or in a special U-shaped pan.

Batard: A fat, log-shaped bread with tapered ends. It is also slashed diagonally and baked using the same method as the baguette and made with the same ingredients.

Boule: French for "ball". It is a fat, round loaf made from the same ingredients as a baguette or batard and baked on a stone.

Brioche: An egg enriched bread that is traditionally baked in a fluted, buttered mold. It can be made loaf-size or as individual rolls with top knots inserted on the top.

Challah: The traditional Sabboth bread of the Jews. It is a rich egg-laden bread that can be braided and baked free form on a baking sheet or stone or coiled and baked in a baking pan.

Ciabatta: A flatbread whose shape is said to resemble a Medieval Italian shoe. It has a chewy interior with lots of holes and a floury crust.

Circle Bread: A traditional German-style bread that is distinguished by its disk shape, notched edges, and circle-patterned, flour-dusted top.

Couronne: A crown shaped bread that can be made with French, Italian, or country bread dough.

Epi: A baguette-type loaf that's been cut and shaped to resemble a wheat sheaf.

Focaccia: An Italian flatbread that has a dimpled surface. This bread uses olive oil in addition to flour, salt, yeast, and water and can be flavored with herbs and topped with many things.

Fougasse: The French-version of focaccia. It is often scented with herbs and slashed through, then spread to form a decorative flatbread resembling a sun, or tree shape.

Grissini: Italian breadsticks. They can be as thin as pencils or as thick as your thumb and can be topped with egg wash and sprinkled with seeds or sugar for a sweet bread.

Khachapuri: Cheese-filled bun from the Russian state of Georgia. It is the Russian version of fast food.

Kuchen: German coffeecake that's not too sweet but is enriched with eggs.

Pain Au Levain: French version of starter-made (sourdough) bread. This artisan bread can be round, shaped like a traditional baguette, or any variety of shapes such as buns, zigzags, twists, or crowns.

Pain Aux Noix: Nut bread that comes in many shapes often iin the shape of a floury triangle with walnuts or hazelnuts embedded in the top.

Pain de Campagne: A dense country loaf made with a combination of bread flour, whole wheat, and rye flour. It can be baked as a free-form round or in a La Cloche (stoneware baker).

Pain Meteil: Uses a mixture of wheat and rye flours and is baked into a free-form round loaf, traditionally marked with the baker's mark - a kind of monogram used to designate who made the bread.

Pain Ordinaire: The classic French yeast-leavened bread, usually baguette-shaped, with a soft interior and a crisp, thin crust. Best to enjoy it the day it is made.

Pain Rustique: A rustic French bread that is similar to ciabatta. This type of artisan bread is slightly elongated, but more of a batard than a slipper shape.

Pane Allo'Ollio: Everyday Italian bread made with bread flour, yeast, salt, sugar, spring water, and olive oil. Cigar-shaped rolls, crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside, baked on a stone.

Pane All'uve E Noci: Italian country bread made with raisins and walnuts.

Pane Bigio: A round, classic rustic Italian loaf made with bread flour and whole wheat flour.

Pane de Mais: Polenta (Italian cornmeal) bread from Italy. Round free-form loaf.

Panettone: Italian Christmas bread with fruits and nuts. Traditionally made with brioche dough and baked in a tall cylinder to represent Italian cathedral domes.

Panini: Italian rolls that can be made into various shape such as torpedos, globes, or fancy shapes created according to the baker's whim.

Petits Pains: Hard rolls from France that are raised four times to produce a bread that is crusty on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside.

Pissaladiere: France's version of pizza made with egg-rich brioche dough then topped with a variety of items.

Pizza: America's favorite flatbread made of bread flour, yeast, salt, and water. Topped with tomato sauces and a variety of cheeses, meats, etc.

Pugliese: Rustic Italian bread similar to Ciabatta, but usually baked in rounds rather than in the shape of a slipper.

Stirato: Italian bread that means "to stretch." The dough for this artisan bread can be stretched up to 36 inches just make sure it will fit in your oven.

Stollen: German Christmas bread in the shape of a large batard and filled with fruit and nuts.

Tordu: Twisted baguette that resembles the American donut twists.

Torpedo: A fat cigar shape tapered at both ends like a torpedo. Popular in both France and Italy.

Sources:
www.artisanbakers.com
Clayton, Bernard. New Complete Book of Breads. 2003 Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
Eckhardt, Linda West and Butts, Diana Collingwood. Rustic European Bread from Your Bread Machine. 1995 Doubleday a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Reinhart, Peter. The Bread Baker's Apprentice. 2001 Ten Speed Press.