Happy Christmas Eve!
Today, we are taking a little holiday trip to Provence in baking the Gibassier. I first tried this fluffy pastry bread at the Pearl Bakery and quickly became infatuated with it. Anise, orange flower water, and candied orange rind give it a delicate and unusual flavor. Plus, it’s coated in sugar. C’est parfait!
I followed the Fresh Loaf’s recipe. The recipe includes many steps, including creating a fermented starter the night before. The most difficult aspect was trying to be accurate in measurements; I used a scale that made precise gram measurements difficult. Still, the recipe flowed well and smelled delightful as it developed. For measurements and instructions, see the link above. This post is a photographic journey to my first Gibassier!
My Christmas Eve Baking Outfit, powered by the tutu I made a few days ago. Gotta have some spirit, right?
Ingredient lineup: sugar, bread flour, olive oil, salt, butter, yeast, anise seed, orange flour water, candied orange peel. Not pictured: eggs.
Pre-ferment mix. The night before (left) and the next morning (right.)
Olive oil and orange flower water.
Smashing the butter!
Chopped candied orange peel and anise seed. So pretty.
After mixing the dough, it needs to sit to create an awesome plastic bubble.
90-100 gram balls of dough, resting for 20 minutes.
Each dough ball gets rolled, then pressed into a half-circle. Next, use a flat edge to cut three slits into the center of the roll, then four slits around the edges.
Glazing the pastries with a milk-egg mix before baking.
The finished product, brushed with clarified butter and covered with sugar. Perfectly airy and sweet.Now I’m off to spend time with family. Bon soir!
