Is it possible to make the famous French Boule? I was recently asked that very question. I was more than a little surprised at the response. It turns out there is really a way to create this delectable bread. Here is how it's done.

The origin of the classic French house is a somewhat hazy story. Historians tell us that it was made in the early twelve hundreds by a nobleman in France called Basques. It was probably invented to replace the roux, which the aristocrats had been using for years to cook delicious pastries and desserts but did not have enough time to prepare themselves. They got another idea and made some roux bread for themselves.

It is important to note here that white bread flour does not play a part in the preparation of the original French bread. In fact, it's not even mentioned in the original recipe. The wheat flour that many contemporary recipes call for is what is used in many of today's breads and cakes. The interesting thing about this is that while it's called French boule (in French), it actually contains oats.

Oats are not technically grass, but they are a much better medium for gluten to be processed immediately into gluten-free flour. If you look at the back label on a excellent French house recipe, you will see that it contains oats, a corn starch base and wheat germ. One could say that the French bread is made with corn meal or flax seed meal. That is not to say that contemporary flour has no place in a excellent French bread recipe, but I would not count on it as a key ingredient.

There are two varieties of bread, that you might recognize when buying a French butcher or deli: German and Dutch-oven. Most people today believe a German dutch-oven is a sort of sourdough. It is not. View website A German dutch-oven is made from a yeast strain known as levain that's not part of the natural yeast living in our bodies. German bread made out of this strain is never bread in the typical sense of this word, but instead an extremely sweet, dense yeast bread with a tangy taste and lots of structure.

For a quick, light toast, mix one tablespoon of brown sugar with one tablespoon of cinnamon in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of instant coffee to the mixture and stir until everything gets smooth and fluffy. Line a baking pan with a very lightly moistened pastry shell and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If using a wire rack, then put the finished French boule at the middle of the rack. Bake for ten to fifteen minutes until done.

Once cool, remove the paper from the bottom of the loaf and discard the paper. Spoon the chilled mixture into your hands and form a ball with your fingers, then put it into a disk. Using a moist towel, gently roll the ball of dough until it is about twice the depth of a cookie cutter and place it into your refrigerator. You can freeze the finished French Boule in an airtight container to keep it fresh until needed.

For the next step, you'll want to make a double batch. Place the finished French Bread into one of your re-sealable plastic bags, then cut off about a half inch of the bottom of the loaf. Using a sharp knife, start scraping the bread in one direction, and flip the bag around so that the slices are coming out in another direction. After about fifteen minutes have elapsed, remove the slices from the plastic bag and place them in your pre-heated oven, or serve them warm.