Fougasse was one of my earliest breads – the shape being the first one taught in Richard Bertinet’s Dough. It’s very quick to make with yeast, as it doesn’t require a second rise, although I’ve only had limited success making it with sourdough. Like many flatbreads, it seems to rely on the speed of bakers’ yeast to give it a quick spring in the oven.
. . . . .
Begin with a batch of yeasted dough – if you need a recipe, I’ve written an indepth tutorial here.
1. Preheat oven to maximum. After the bulk prove (first rise), turn the dough onto an oiled surface, and divide it into two. Work each piece into a rough rectangle, then cut each piece into three smaller pieces (six pieces in total).
2. Lay each piece onto a sheet of parchment paper. With the edge of your dough scraper, or a serrated knife, cut through the dough with several straight incisions. Be as creative as you like, but try to make a few larger cuts rather than lots of small ones, as the latter will tend to close up on baking.
3. Now, here’s the trick – dust your fingers with a little flour, and get right in there and open up all the holes. Don’t be too gentle with it, really spread them out as shown below. These are now ready to bake and can be dusted with flour if you prefer.
4. Turn the oven down to 230C or 220C with fan, and bake the fougasse for 10 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown. I bake mine on pizza stones, carefully pulling out the parchment paper halfway through the baking time, but you could just as easily shape and bake them on lined trays.
These are great fun to make, and particularly good for entertaining!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Your Fougasse looks great & very pretty too!
MMMMMMMMM,..It looks like you had fun making it!
We have seen Fougasse in France (it officially comes from the southern Provence region) and yours looks delicious. Such fun with all those holes! I love breads with supper these warm summer months – well it’s warm here in the UK, anyway!
hopeeternal
‘Meanderings through my Cookbook
Well Done! You’re a real expert baker..they look great..:)
They look great! Would definitely make an eye catching party bread! :)
Gorgeous! That looks like a bready-pretzel… two of my very favourite things. I love oddly shaped food!
Those are exceptionally beautiful and look so delicious. I would love to try to make them!
They make me smile just to look at them. I would love to have a tug of war with one. I would like to dip it into hummus or a cheesy dip and devour it whole> I think I’ll make them for a birthday treat!
Beautiful bread and photos of it, Celia!
Thanks for reminding me – I love fougasse, but haven’t made it in ages.
It looks really beautiful. I am so excited about this recipe. I will try it and make the shape like butterfly. :)
i love fougasse! in fact, i just made a batch today, topped with caramelised onion, that’s my favorite variety. there was no light by the time i was done with all the chores, i hope it lives to see tomorrow so i can take a pic.
you take very nice step-by-step photos, those are so helpful when you’ve never made something before. that snappy crust looks excellent.
Your fougasse looks perfect Celia! I had an amazing one at a Alain Ducasse restaurant that was filled with lardons. Oh my I’m drooling thinking about it and I asked for more! :D
Thank you all! I have another batch in the oven right now – smothered in za’atar and olive oil. Pete asked for them this morning! They’re great fun, and Tes, if you ever do make a butterfly, I hope we get to see it! :)
simply beautiful. I loved it….
Great stuff! Lovely for parties and sharing x
Yum. What a great use for za’atar–love all the ingredients…Might have to whip some fougasse up..
Did you see my note at BabetteFeasts? I swear we were on each other’s blogs at the exact same moment leaving comments! Neat bit of serendipity…Just sayin.
Oh my…that looks wonderful…you have a lovely blog and I’ll come and visit often:)
Oh Celia, you are a wonder. These look lovely. Think za’atar is going to be my next challenge, I keep hearing so many good things about it.
Thank you all!
Choclette, I looked up my Ian Hemphill Spice Notes book for you, and here’s his recipe for za’atar, in case you can’t buy it:
3 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed but not powdered in a pestle and mortar
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
Cheers, Celia
I am a total bread making know nothing – I have never tried it as it seems like such an art that you must immerse yourself in (the closest I’ve come is putting a bread mix in my bread maker!). Your tutorials, photo’s, instructions and results are so tempting I can see that I might just think about immersing.
Sarah, I hope you give it a go! Do make sure you use high protein flour – bread or bakers flour – you can now buy it quite readily in most Oz supermarkets. Trying to make bread with plain flour can be quite disappointing, as there just isn’t enough gluten to give it lift. And fair warning though, it can get very addictive.. :)
Celia – thank you for the recipe. I have sumac and sesame, just need dried thyme – woopee, another interesting spice mix to try!