How to bake a "baguette magique"!

The French term for 'wand' is 'baguette magique', something that has been making me smile ever since I met my real-life, magician-baker husband Dragan, nearly twenty years ago.

The combination of talents and skills required to perform as a teacher, or as a magician, are in fact rather similar. You need knowledge, experience, insight, patience, the wit to improvise, and, above all, humour. Same goes for being a good baker. Getting up at 3 am to bake for the village, you need good coffee and a few dark jokes to keep you going!

The rewards for getting it right are unmistakeable. Beautiful, authentically artisan loaves, crafted by happy students who leave inspired to repeat their own performance on a regular basis.

Here's the recipe for Dragan's most recent magic wands:

Ingredients (for one large or two small baguettes)

• Strong white bread flour (we use Shipton Mill No.4 Organic White) 200g
• Ripe leaven (100% hydration) 100g
• Warm (35 C) filtered water 125g (70% hydration)
• Sea salt 4g

Method

• Mix the dough and knead for 5 minutes (20 to 30 rock n rolls)
• First fermentation 3-4 hours. Aim to maintain dough temperature at 25 or 30 C. The heat helps develop the gluten.
• Shape baguettes and prove on the baguette tray for 1 to 2 hours, until it springs back half way when poked.
• Bake, using steam if possible, at 250 C for 10 minutes, reducing to 210 C for 11 minutes (21 mins total)

Et voilà!

P.S. If all (or any of) this seems a bit daunting, how about joining one of our live or online classes? Good for beginners, refreshers, improvers and even the odd superstar!