Ruby Tandoh's Orange and fennel fougasses

These leaf-shaped breads are easy to make and usually served plain or with a

few needles of rosemary or some olive oil but this version uses orange,

fennel seeds and a dusting of crunchy demerara sugar. The result is a bread

that s sweet without being sickly, pretty but not fussy and ideal for

mid-afternoon snacks. Fennel s aniseed edge sits perfectly with orange, but if

you don t like it you could swap the seeds with a handful of currants or a

scattering of poppy seeds.

Makes 6

300g strong white flour

1 tsp instant dried yeast

tsp salt

2 tsp fennel seeds

Zest of two oranges

115g full-fat natural yoghurt

130ml warm water

To finish

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp milk

4 tbsp demerara sugar

1 Stir the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl. Using a pestle and

mortar, grind the fennel seeds until no whole seeds remain or simply pulse in

a coffee grinder, if you have one. No need to worry about reducing the seeds to

a perfectly smooth powder in fact, it s nice to see flecks of fennel in the

finished dough. Stir the fennel into the flour along with the orange zest.

2 Whisk together the yoghurt and water then add this to the dry ingredients.

Roll your sleeves up and get stuck in: mix the ingredients with your hands to

form a rough dough. Knead the dough on an unfloured work surface. Although it

will be sticky to start with, adding extra flour at this stage will leave the

dough stiff and dry. After 10 minutes or so, the dough should be ready it

will become smoother, less sticky and more elastic

3 Leave the dough to rise for 1-1 hours. It should roughly double in size

during this time as the feeding yeast fills minuscule air pockets in the dough

with carbon dioxide. Once it s risen, tip the dough out and divide into 6

pieces. Grease a couple of large baking trays with a neutrally flavoured oil.

4 It s now time to shape the fougasses. Lightly dust the work surface with

flour and roll out one of the pieces of dough thinly to a rough oval shape,

15-20cm long. Dust the top with more flour if the rolling pin sticks. Use a

sharp knife to make a long incision down the length of the oval, leaving the

ends intact to avoid bisecting it this is much like the central vein of a

leaf. Now make three or four diagonal slits either side of the central cut,

sloping up and away from the middle but touching neither the central cut nor

the dough s edges. Gently stretch the dough leaf to open these incisions, and

set the shaped fougasse to rest on one of the prepared baking trays. Repeat

with the remaining dough.

5 Leave the fougasses to rise at room temperature for 30-45 minutes, or until

visibly puffier. There s no need to cover the rising dough, but it helps to put

it in a draught-free spot. Preheat the oven to 200C/400FC/gas mark 6.

6 Whisk together the egg yolk and milk and brush lightly over the risen

fougasses with a pastry brush. Sprinkle the sugar generously over the top of

each one then place them in the oven to bake. How long you cook them depends on

the texture you like: for soft fougasses, 10 minutes will suffice; for chewier

ones with a crisp crust, 13-15 minutes should do it.