Mauricettes a la Tonton

Mauricette is a soft bread that can be used as a roll for sandwiches, the side of a plate of charcuterie or even as a little snack on its own. Now you wonder what is so special about it. Its another speciality from Alsace, its very similar to the bretzel (pretzel in english).

Tonton had a new recipe that he wanted to try, as it was one that did not require to long to wait for the dough to raise, and as a bonus it was a recipe for the Thermomix. As the weather was a bit sour we spent the day cooking and baking different recipes.

La Recette.

Dough: 
225g Water
500g bread flour
1 packet of instant yeast (we used Levure Boulangere)
10g Sugar
40g oil
1 egg
1 tsp salt

Water Bath:
1L water
1 tsp salt
40g baking soda

Finish: 
1 egg
topping, salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds....

 

Methode 

First start with the dough. Put the water in bowl of the Thermomic and heat at 37°C for 2 minutes, the speed set at 2. Add the remaining ingredients of the dough mixture, set the timer to 2 min 30, make sure your bowl is locked and then press the kneading button. Once all mixed together, pop the dough in to a container and leave to rest at room temperature for 35 minutes to an hour.  Meanwhile preheat your oven to 190°C or 180°C for fan ovens.

Once your dough has risen, put the dough on a floured surface and flatten it with the palm of your hand to roughly 5cm thick. We only roughly had it at the height of 1cm and a half. Now you can divide the dough as you like, we used different cutters to get various shapes.

Prepare the water-bath by boiling the with the salt and the baking soda together. With a slotted spoon briefly dip each bun into the boiling water and out again. Place each bun on the baking tray that is lined with baking parchment or a silicon sheet. Then beat the egg and then brush the egg on each bun. To make the buns darker you can use just egg yolk. Sprinkle you desired topping, indent the top of each bun with a sharp knife two or three times. Pop them in to the oven for 15min, keep an eye on them as they can brown quite quickly.

While choosing the cutters we had a slight family debate as my Tonton choose a clover and two different crescent moon. My recommendation was a heart, (obviously) but he said it was too Christmasy, and we just burst out laughing and asked that moons aren't, he simply replied, its a talking point. 

Fresh from the oven.

These little treats can be made in to a bigger bun, that could be used to make a sandwich. The smaller size is lovely for l'aperitif. You can make them in their traditional shape that of a oval bun or a knot with sea salt sprinkled over it. 

We used these little light mauricettes to go along side my Tonton Foie Gras. Which is always a lovely treat.

Bon Appétit.