Is it still a miche if it's mini?
Bread size is a funny thing.
When looking at a boule one of its characteristics is its size. It’s a regular round, full size, loaf of bread. If you go smaller you get a bun, and smaller still will give you a roll. Often the weight of the dough will help determine its future identity once baked. One of my favorite round breads is a very large boule called a miche (pronounced meesh…or so I’ve been told by someone who speaks French).
A miche is a French country sourdough that was meant to feed the family for a week! That makes sense given its size. However it also makes sense given its history.
French communities shared communal ovens for hundreds of years. This meant keeping a sourdough starter fed for a week, and making a large loaf of bread during your allotted oven time-slot with your sourdough. The arrival of yeast in the early 1900’s changed this practice and the baguette became more common. But until then, that weekly bread was a miche. This MasterClass article about Apollonia Poilâne, whose family is the original source of the miche, will tell you more about the history.
The miche gets its darker color from whole grains and stone ground flours. This is one of the things I love about it. The dark color, the tighter crumb, the elasticity of the bread plus the toughness of the crust…and oh my gosh, what a marvelous scent!
Now, I have baked a miche a few times, but always for family, or a party, or a time when I knew it would serve multiple people. But for just me? It is too much bread. (And I don’t say that lightly.)
I came across a recipe for a Honey-Beer Miche from King Arthur Baking and as is often the case, was wowed by the photos, ingredients and descriptions. So I made the miche. It was wonderful! The dark soft crumb and even darker chewy crust made me reach for another slice (ok, maybe more than one). Yet, the size of the miche presented another problem for me.
I don’t have an oven. I do all of my baking in a toaster oven. My previous miches were baked in borrowed ovens (just like the French!) The mass of dough that a traditional miche requires was just not going to fit.
So I miniaturized the miche. That means I can bake it in my toaster oven AND there is just enough to have a slice everyday for breakfast for the week! So I invite you to join me on the adventure and bake what I have for you here: the Honey-Beer Miche from King Arthur Baking reduced to 30% of its original size.
Honey-Beer Miche from King Arthur Baking, reduced to 30%
For the Preferment
34.5 g Dark Rye Flour
34.5 g All Purpose Flour
62.1 g room temperature water
13.8 g starter
For the Dough
All of the preferment from above
13.8 g water
89.7 g dark beer
5.1 g honey
0.6 g yeast
150 g All Purpose Flour
11.4 g Whole Wheat Flour
5.1 g salt
Follow the directions online! I baked this small loaf for 15 minutes at 475 degrees F and then for another 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.
So that brings me back to my original question. Is it still a miche if it is miniaturized?
My answer is no, of course not. One of the key features of a miche is its large size. But then you cut it open and…
Well, it’s got the same tight crumb that is common in a traditional miche.
In the end it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that it was absolutely fabulous toasted, smeared with butter and topped with homemade jam.
By the way, this reduced recipe calls for only 90g of beer. What do you do with the rest? I think you can figure that one out on your own.
Cheers,
From a small Vermont kitchen