Baguettes with Egg Whites

Step 1 -- In advance (1 hour before baguettes making), take the necessary amount of butter out of the refrigerator according to the recipe and leave it at room temperature to become very soft and creamy, or soften it in the microwave immediately before baking. Also take egg whites out of the freezer beforehand (see the helpful tip to the recipe) if you plan to use them for baking instead of fresh ones.

Step 2 -- Directly before kneading the dough, turn on the oven and heat it to 180 degrees Celsius (so that you can put the dough on it, if there is no other warm place for it, such as a hot radiator).

Step 3 -- On low heat, bring the required according to the recipe amount of water in a saucepan or an aluminum pot to the warm condition (38-40 ° C).

Step 4 -- In a large bowl for dough kneading (about 3.5 liters) measure the whole rate of granulated sugar for the dough, pour the warm water (from step 3) and add fresh yeast (or put dry yeast). Without mixing, put the bowl in a warm place for 5-10 minutes, so that the yeast gets wet and a little bit swollen.

Step 5 -- While the yeast is getting wet, in a separate clean bowl, beat egg whites to puffy snow-white form by the mixer with the usual whisks (or by the blender with whisks) first at the low speed and then at the increased one direction rotation speed (this will take about 5 minutes). Egg whites are whisked correctly, if the surface is raised, and you can see small well-holding “peaks” on it, when taking the whisk out. Put the whisked egg whites aside. Note: In order to separate both egg whites from yolks and not to spoil them at once, I advise you to perform the similar procedure with each egg separately using the own (even small) containers, and only then put the two egg whites together.

Step 6 -- Sifting through a fine screen put about 120 g of the previously measured wheat flour to the ready yeast and mix until smooth by the mixer with usual whisks (at low speed).

Step 7 -- Put softened butter and salt into the dough and mix.

Step 8 -- Add in the dough, also sifting and mixing with the mixer, about 100 g of flour, and then put egg whites that have been whisked before. Gently stir them into the dough by the mixer at a low speed, moving it in one direction, then put in the dough another 50 g of flour, while sifting.

Step 9 -- Gradually in 2-3 portions (to feel the structure of the dough), add the second half of the flour (having taken the stuck dough from the whisks or from the hand whisk, sprinkling them with flour), knead the dough with hands until it becomes homogeneous and elastic and comes off the hands and the bowl. Stir the dough carefully for a long time, collect it from the edges to the center in the process of stirring, and when you get a lump of dough, stretch it several times holding the ends and fold it back – as a result, the dough will saturate with oxygen and will be more puffy. In the total, the dough should become elastic and slightly sticking to hands that is acceptable.

Step 10 -- Roll the dough into a ball and put it back in the bowl. Close the bowl with the dough by food polyethylene film and put in a warm place for 60 minutes, so that the volume of dough increased by about 2 times. If you have the time, you can leave the dough at room temperature while rising, but this process can take about 2 hours.

Step 11 -- When the dough is ready, turn on the oven and heat it to 180 degrees Celsius, if the oven has not been previously turned on. Cover a large aluminum baking sheet (28 × 38 cm or something like that) with non-stick parchment paper for baking (you don’t need to make side boards).

Step 12 -- Press down the risen dough with your hands, roll it into a ball again and divide it into 2 parts (it is better to do it with the help of scales). Leaving one part in the bowl covered with polyethylene film in order not to dry up, roll out the second part on the table with a rolling pin (it can also be sprinkled with flour if the dough is still sticky) and make a 26 × 33 cm layer, aligning it with hands and stretching it by the edges. Roll the dough tightly according to the long side that is totally covered with melted butter. Then fasten the roll seam so that it does not break off when baking, and turn the roll with the seam down. Similarly do the same with the remaining half of the dough, placing the resulting ready-to-bake product on the same baking sheet at a distance from the first one (as they increase in volume during baking). Immediately make cross-cuts (a little bit obliquely) on the ready-to-bake products with a sharp knife, cover them with a paper towel and put them in a warm place (for example, on a heated oven) so that they get ready and increase in volume.

Step 13 -- When the ready-to-bake products are ready, in a separate bowl, mix the marked amount of water, starch and salt specified for the topping in the recipe. Take a silicone brush and grease the surface of the first expectant baguette with the received mixture and sprinkle it with sesame seeds to taste, then repeat the same procedure with the second part (everything must be done in this order, as the starch mixture absorbs quickly, and sesame seeds can stick to the surface of the expectant baguettes poorly if you do it for too long). Place the baking sheet with the expectant baguettes in the oven and bake at 180 degrees Celsius until you get the golden color of the top in about 30-35 minutes or according to the recommendations for baking the yeast dough in the instructions of your oven. You can change sides of the baking tray after 20-25 minutes of baking so that baguettes brown evenly.

Step 14 -- Take ready baguettes out of the oven, cool them totally on the baking sheet, but don’t cover them with anything. You can serve them, but previously you can cut off excessively baked bottoms with a jagged knife for cutting bread if necessary.