5 Minute Baguettes

Long time readers and friends will remember that my wife, Denisa, used to be a baker. She made a variety of artisanal breads and would deliver them around town, across campus, and sold them in several stores. When she was baking, there were pluses and minuses. The pluses mainly boiled down to “fresh made bread all the time, literally,” though it also got her out and about and helped her meet a lot of people. The minuses were more varied: late nights baking, early mornings baking, and just a whole lot of time invested in it. Running a business isn’t for the faint of heart.

All of that ended years ago now. She doesn’t miss it at all (though I do miss the bread). Teaching as adjunct faculty makes much (much) more money in much (much) less time. Every now and then she’ll bake a batch of bread, but it’s few and far between, just because we’re busy doing other things now.

So when I came across a video early this week while sick in bed, I perked up a bit. “Homemade baguettes in five minutes,” it said. I watched it, thinking the video was five minutes. But no, it’s the amount of prep time to make them. It seemed straightforward enough, so I sent it to Denisa. She was intrigued enough to put it to the test.

It was a lie. It took more like 10 minutes. Twice as long! Maybe even more. (On her first try, which implies it could probably be done faster with practice, but still.) But they actually tasted really good. (Fantastic, even. Though I’ll say that eating them the next day isn’t quite as good. A big part of the appeal is the “freshly baked” part.)

So, dear readers, if you’re looking for an easy way to make some tasty bread, here’s you go. (The video’s only 2.5 minutes.)