La Pompe A Lhuile Recipes

Steps:

• Check out the photo gallery below the recipe to see how the dough looks at each step.
• For the sourdough version
• The night before you plan to bake, mix a 56% hydration sourdough starter weighing 250g. Knead it on the counter for 1-2 minutes, and then place it in a jar with room for tripling. Cover and leave it somewhere warm. This stiff starter can be created from a single feed of 40g 100% hydration starter, 140g bread flour, and 70g water.
• Optional for the yeast version
• Just before mixing your dough, put a portion of the recipe's water in a small bowl with the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let the yeast dissolve and foam up.
• Both Recipes
• Mixing
• In a medium bowl (ideally with a pouring spout), measure out the water, sugar, orange blossom water, salt, and ground anise.
• While the sugar and salt begin dissolving, zest and juice the orange, straining out seeds and pulp.
• Stir a bit and then add the oil.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, briefly whisk your flour and instant yeast - OR - add the stiff starter in chunks to your flour. If you chose to proof your yeast, you can simply pour the mixture over the flour.
• Add the orange mixture to your stand mixer bowl and begin mixing using the dough hook attachment.
• Mix 5-8 minutes, initially on low speed and then low-med. Pause once early on to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The dough should be smooth and only slightly sticky to the touch toward the end of mixing.
• If you don't have a stand mixer, mix by hand or with a spatula, and then slap and fold the dough for gluten development. Videos of this technique can be found here.
• First Rise
• Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place (ideally at temps in the low 80s) until about doubled. This was 3 1/2 hours with instant yeast, and 8 hours with sourdough.
• Shaping
• Scrape the dough onto your countertop. There's no need to flour or oil it. Divide the dough in two pieces and roll them into balls.
• Cover the dough balls with a large piece of plastic wrap (you'll reuse this) and let them rest for about 20 minutes.
• Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also prepare two parchment squares and bake the breads one at a time on a smaller baking sheet.
• Using a rolling pin, roll the dough balls into circles about 8 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.
• Transfer the circles to the parchment paper, and make cuts in the dough as if it were pie but without reaching the center or the edges. Open the cuts a bit with your tool (spatula) or your fingers.
• Final Proof
• Cover the dough with your sheet of plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until puffy, almost twice as tall. This was 1 1/2 hours for instant yeast, and 4 hours for sourdough.
• Baking
• Preheat your oven to 400°F with a shelf in the center position.
• Bake the pompe à l'huile for 16-18 minutes or until the internal temp is over 200°F. If your fermentation times were long, the color of the breads may be lighter despite the interior being cooked through.
• Lightly brush the breads with olive oil to help them stay soft longer.
• Let the pompe à l'huile cool on a rack for about 20 minutes, then sprinkle powdered sugar on them if desired.
• The breads can be wrapped for storage, and softened through reheating in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

Steps:

• Mix the yeast with the 1/2 cup warm water and set aside.
• Sift the flour, powdered sugar, and salt into a large bowl (preferably wood). Make an indentation in the center and add the yeast mixture, melted butter, olive oil, orange flower water, and aniseeds.
• Slowly stir in 1 1/2 cups of water with a wooden spoon, then knead the dough until it is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes, adding more water if necessary. The dough should be quite soft. Form the dough into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover the bowl with a cloth, and let the dough rise in a warm place for one hour.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F. Place parchment paper on two baking sheets. When the dough has risen, divide it in half and form two balls. Place one on each baking sheet. Flatten the balls with your hand. With a rolling pin, roll each flattened ball into a large circle about 3/4 inch thick.
• Using a pastry wheel or sharp knife and starting about an inch to one side of the center, make three diagonal cuts slanting downward. Make symmetrical cuts on the other side. Repeat this process with the other loaf. Gently spread the cuts apart with your fingers to form irregular oval opening about 2 inches wide. They will close up a bit during cooking.
• Using a pastry brush or your fingers, smear half of the egg yolk over the top of each loaf. Place one loaf in the refrigerator while baking the other. Bake each loaf on the middle rack of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until deep golden. Five minutes prior to the first loaf being done, remove the second from the refrigerator and let rest before baking.
• Cool the loaves on wire racks. The loaves may be eaten warm or at room temperature. To store, wrap the cooled loaves in aluminum foil. They will keep for up to 48 hours at room temperature or frozen for up to one week.

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, place the salt, sugar, bread flour, yeast, candied orange peel, anise seeds, and zest. Mix ingredients on low speed until combined.
• Place the orange juice, eggs, olive oil, and orange-flower water in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with warm water, measuring 2 1/2 cups. Pour this mixture over the flour mixture; mix on low speed until shiny and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, and set aside. Dust a clean work surface lightly with flour; turn out the dough. Gather dough into a smooth ball, and place dough in the oiled bowl. Cover bowl with plastic; set in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour, and lightly oil two baking pans. Turn out the dough, and divide into two equal pieces. Roll one piece into a 12-inch-diameter disk, about 1/3-inch thick. Cut three decorative slits in center of dough, and stretch each slit, enlarging it. Transfer the disk to a baking pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise for 50 minutes. Repeat with remaining piece of dough.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Unwrap both disks. Bake bread until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap bread in plastic, and store at room temperature up to 2 days.