When someone new comes into the world, a good bread is definitely in order. And I mean a really good bread. Our friends just had a baby, Ulianna, and we were going to meet her. What would I bring? I knew I wanted to bring bread–everything that bread stands for–life, sustenance, and nourishment–I just felt it was fitting. I imagined the new family breaking bread together, to celebrate their new life with a pain de campagne.
Pain de campagne is a country french bread. It is a hearty, earthy, and amazingly dense and delicious. Villages used to have a community oven, where families would bake their bread that could weigh up to 12 pounds–enough to feed a family for quite a while. It could sustain french families for a week or more! And it is traditionally decorated with a bunch of grapes fashioned from the dough, which I also did on the top. The beauty of a pain de campagne is that it ferments for up to three days. Starting with a whole wheat starter sponge and gradually adding flour each day, until on the final day you knead (and I mean KNEAD–this is some tough dough–but oh so satisfying). Sometimes bread can come out tasting too much like the flour it was made with. But with the pain de campagne, nothing could be further from that idea. Instead, it has yeasty and fermented undertones that are offset by the whole wheat goodness it embodies. I decided to make two loaves–one to give to Ulia and her family, the other for us. I wanted to taste this thing for myself! And I am glad I did make two–it was well worth the days of fermenting.
It sounds like a lot of work, but in fact it’s not. The first day you mix a little flour, water, and yeast. The second day you add some more flour. The last day you add the rest of the flour and salt and let rise, then bake. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes of my time on the first and second days. The final day took a bit longer, but it was like any normal bread baking experience–you just cut out a few hours of your day for it.
Good bread, new life, sustaining health, comfort, and the basis of so many people’s diet across the globe–welcome Ulia! This bread, or pain de campagne, is for you 
.
Pain de campagne
The Bread Bible
Starter
1 tablespoon (1 package) active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup lukewarm water
Sponge
2 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
Dough
3 1/2 – 4 cups unbleached flour
4 teaspoons salt
1 large egg beaten with 2 teaspoons water, for glazing
1. Day one: To make the starter, place the yeast and the whole-wheat flour in a deep bowl or a plastic 4 quart bucket with a lid. Add the water and whisk hard until a smooth batter is formed. Cover and let stand at room temperature until foamy and it begins to ferment, 24 hours.
2. Day two: To make the sponge, add 2 cups warm water to the starter. Whisk to combine. Add the unbleached and the whole-wheat flours alternately, 1 cup at a time, changing to a wooden spoon when necessary, until a smooth batter is formed. The sponge will be very wet. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover with plastic, and let rise again at room temp, 24 hours.
3. Day three: To make the bread dough, stir down the sponge with a wooden spoon. Add 1 cup of the unbleached flour and the salt. Gradually add most of the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to make the dough firm.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface. I had to add a little bit of the flour at a time and really knead it into the dough–the dough is tough! The wooden spoon just wouldn’t do, your hands work much better. Do this until the 3-3 1/2 cups flour is all gone and you are just kneading away at that thing for about 5 more minutes–you will feel this in your arms the next day! When done kneading, place in a greased deep bowl, flip it to coat, and set aside covered in plastic for about 1 1/2 hours. Then gently deflate the dough, shape into a round taking a little off to the side to use for the grape decoration. Wrap in a floured cloth and let rise again for another hour.
Pre heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Slash the loaf decoratively and brush with egg mixture. Put the decorative grapes and leaves on and then brush those with the egg mixture as well. Place the pain de campagne on your pre heated bread stone in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. The loaf will be crisp and sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom–that’s how you know it is done. Transfer to a cooling rack, slice when cooled.
You won’t be disappointed Cheers!
