Pain brié
A bread from Normandy, quite unlike a baguette or a rustic sourdough loaf. The dough is very firm, with little water, and kneaded for a long time, and the name is said to come from the Norman verb brier, to pound: the dough was once beaten with a wooden bar. That gives it a close, fine, creamy-white crumb with no big holes, and a thin, crisp crust. A preferment from the day before (pâte fermentée) adds depth of flavour. Pain brié stays fresh a long time and is excellent with butter, cheese and seafood.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Overnight preferment 720 min
- Kneading 20 min
- Rising 60 min
- Shaping 10 min
- Proving 60 min
- Baking 40 min
- Cooling 60 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the preferment overnight
Mix the preferment ingredients into a firm dough, knead briefly, cover and leave 2 hours at room temperature, then overnight in the fridge (about 12 hours in total).
Ingredients: 150 g strong white bread flour · 100 ml water · 3 g salt · 1 g dried yeast
Yesterday's preferment — the source of flavour.Combine the ingredients
Tear the preferment into pieces, add the flour, water, salt and yeast and gather into a ball. The dough will be very firm and dry — that is how it should be.
Ingredients: 350 g strong white bread flour · 190 ml water · 7 g salt · 4 g dried yeast
Knead long and hard
Knead 15–20 minutes by hand on the worktop or with a dough hook on low speed, until smooth and satiny. You can also alternately beat it with a rolling pin, fold and beat again — as was once done in Normandy.
Ingredients: 350 g strong white bread flour · 190 ml water · 7 g salt · 4 g dried yeast
Firm dough, long kneading — hence the close crumb.Leave to rise
Cover the dough and leave an hour. It will not rise much — it grows by about half.
Ingredients: 350 g strong white bread flour · 190 ml water · 7 g salt · 4 g dried yeast
Shape an oval loaf
Flatten the dough into a rectangle, roll it tightly into an oval loaf about 25 cm long and pinch the seam. Place seam down on a lined tray.
Ingredients: 350 g strong white bread flour · 190 ml water · 7 g salt · 4 g dried yeast
Prove and heat the oven
Cover the loaf and leave an hour. Meanwhile heat the oven to 230°C with a tray inside and an empty tin on the oven floor.
Ingredients: 350 g strong white bread flour · 190 ml water · 7 g salt · 4 g dried yeast
Score and bake with steam
Score the loaf lengthwise with a sharp knife in 3–4 parallel cuts, about 1 cm deep. Slide it into the oven, pour a glass of boiling water into the tin (beware of the burst of steam) and bake 10 minutes at 230°C, then lower the temperature to 210°C and bake another 25–30 minutes, until the crust is golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath.
Ingredients: 350 g strong white bread flour · 190 ml water · 7 g salt · 4 g dried yeast
Parallel lengthwise cuts — its signature.Cool
Cool on a rack an hour before slicing. Serve with salted butter, Camembert, seafood or pâté.
Ingredients: 350 g strong white bread flour · 190 ml water · 7 g salt · 4 g dried yeast
Before you start
Firm dough
Pain brié has about 57% water to flour, far less than ordinary bread. Do not add water even if the dough seems too dry — after long kneading it turns smooth.
Mixer
Very firm dough strains a stand mixer. Knead on the lowest speed and pause if the motor gets hot.
Storage
Thanks to its close crumb, pain brié stays fresh a long time — 3–4 days in a linen cloth. It also makes excellent toast.
