Pain Fendu

To combat my poor shaping karma at the bakery, I've been going out of my way to make my loaves at home extra lovely, slashing very carefully and trying some new shaping methods. One notable success last week was my attempt at oatmeal sunflower seed pain fendu, a shaping method that involves shaping the dough into a round boule, then pressing a rolling pin into the floured top to create a deep trough. The two halves of the trough are then squeezed together like little butt cheeks and proofed in a basket, and the final product comes out as if it had been gently slashed (at least mine did).

Oat-sunflower seed loaf shaped pain fendu style a la Hamelman. Guarded by a few of the battalion of Star Wars figures we just rescued from Matt's parents' basement.