Baguettes, baby

What is a couche? And why do we desperately need one?

Cake of the Week: April’s Baker green scene from London

Fresh baked news

• Mary Berry’s big birthday

• Chair or croissant?

• Paola Velez pop-up D.C. 3/21 & 3/28

• Sweet roses

• Easter egg dupe

• DIY sprinkles from Erin Jeanne

• Pretty “porcelain” cookies

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Melissa Weller, bread winner

Melissa Weller slingin’ baguettes

Shhh… the baguettes are sleeping.

We’re feeling extremely motivated to try baguettes at home after this week’s chat between Melissa Weller and Jessie Sheehan on She’s My Cherry Pie. Melissa, a former chemical engineer (!), was once told by Chef Thomas Keller that she made one of the best breads he’d ever had—weeks into her new job at Per Se, his super luxe NYC restaurant.

Since then—after stints at Sadelle’s, High Street on Hudson, and Roberta’s—she’s written two fabulous cookbooks. Her latest, Very Good Bread, is packed with inspiration and helpful tips for sourdough fun. She’s also cooking up a new allergen-free bakery called Bub’s set to open this year—can’t wait.

Baguettes require a bit of love before they only bake for 20-ish minutes. They even get wrapped in a linen blanket (see below) so they rest peacefully overnight, like snug little piggies. Every step is worth it for the sound of the baguette breaking under your hands when you tear off the crusty tip. Lucky for us, Melissa shared the most important steps in baguette-ing:

• The pre-shape is where it’s at. Shaping your little footballs as perfectly as possible before the first proof ensures the final result looks like a baguette—and isn’t that what you’re going for?

• Baguettes need a nap in a couche. Fold the heavy linen cloth like a corrugated roof to help them retain their shape, otherwise they’ll expand outwards.

• Scoring helps bread release steam and expand, don’t skip it.

Okay, there are a lot more tips than that. Tune in to the podcast for ‘em all.

LISTEN TO SHE’S MY CHERRY PIE ON APPLE, SPOTIFY, OR YOUTUBE.

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Thank you to Ghirardelli Professional Products for supporting our show.

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Shop the show

• Baking with Julia, Dorie Greenspan’s fantastic 1996 cookbook, was where Melissa learned a life-changing sticky bun recipe (gimme)

• Couche! This long linen cloth makes proofing baguettes a lotttt easier—and is just fun to say (remember Koosh balls?)

• Or go with this bread kit

• You’ll need a baking stone for a slower heat transfer than a baking sheet but also: pizza

• Slice and serve

• Don’t forget the butter

Wise words
“I just want good bread. It doesn’t have to be perfect bread. That’s different.”
–Melissa Weller on “good” in her book titles

Rabbit hole to chase

• Strongly considering a trip to Paris to investigate religieuse, a nun-shaped (oh, yes) cream puff confection that Melissa mentioned.

Tip of the week

• Don’t have a transfer peel to get the baguette from the counter to the oven? A piece of cardboard works! Parchment paper, too.

Question for the class

• Have you made Melissa’s babka yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!

From the archives

• Don’t miss Melissa’s first time on our pod

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IRL happenings

• Gloria Steinem & Asma Khan will be Jubilee keynote speakers! Don’t miss our annual conference in NYC on Saturday, 4/12. Tickets now on sale. Official Bombesquad Members & paid Substack subscribers, use your special discount.

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