PUBLIC MARKS with tags baking & "how to"

Listen closely -- you can hear this crackly-crisp bread "sing" as it cools! Step-by-step photos illustrating how to make these baguettes are available at Bakers’ Banter, our King Arthur blog.

Baguettes. Crusty, golden… unattainable-except-from-an-artisan-bakery baguettes. Not so. And we’re here to prove it to you. The late Prof. Raymond Calvel, France’s acclaimed “godfather of bread,” visited this country and did a “blind” baguette baking, using a variety of American flours to make his signature crusty loaf. The result? King Arthur Flour was Calvel’s choice as being most similar to his beloved French flour.

There are few pleasures as simple or sublime as tearing into a crusty French baguette. Baguettes are loved for their graceful form and their shatteringly crisp crust. Served whole, they are a wonderful companion for any main dish. Sliced, they make an elegant presentation on a cheese plate or as crostini. Baguettes are a little more difficult to form than your average loaf, but after practicing these techniques, you will be able to shape baguettes like a true boulanger.