La Couronne Lyonaise

This Couronne Lyonaise is a French bread that originated in Lyon, France. This one includes both a sourdough starter along with a little bit of yeast. 

This bread is shaped like a crown - thus the name "couronne." My shaping method is a work in progress, but the bread itself is amazingly flavorful. 

I have made couronnes before, including a version where you place the extra dough underneath the shaped oval to form the crown, and a couronne Auvergnate. This version is slightly different in that the dough also includes a little bit if rye flour and is shaped by forming balls of dough and rolling out a third of the dough and folding it over the dough ball. 

Ideally, the flaps that are folded over the dough balls will all rise equally and form even flaps folded over the baked bread. Clearly, most of my dough flaps stood straight up, while one or two decided to cooperate. 

I think I needed to pull the flaps over more than I did, but not too much. Either way, I was super happy with the flavor and texture of this bread. As I said, it's a work in progress. 

P.S. If you want to make this bread as a round without forming it into balls and creating the flap, you definitely can. Just use a lame or sharp knife to create slashes ove the round and bake as is (be sure to check out my friend Sally from Bewitching Kitchen for the two methods. 

Ingredients in this Couronne Lyonaise: 

Flours: Bread flour and rye flour. While there's only a little bit of rye, the rye flour adds just the right "something something" to develop flavor. It's also a great addition in small amounts for getting your sourdough starter to revive. 

Sourdougn Starter: It should be 100% hydration (equal parts water and flour, by weight). It can be active or discard as long as it's been fed within the last two weeks. 

Water, Salt, and Instant Yeast. 

This bread takes a couple days to make, but it's worth the effort. 

To Make This Bread:

On the first day, mix all of the ingredients except the salt and instant yeast in a stand mixer on low for ten minutes. Let the dough rest for an hour and then mix in the salt and yeast, kneading for five minutes. 

After letting the dough rest for 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough. After another 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough one more time. 

Let the dough sit at room temperature for about and hour or 2, until it's 1 1/2 times its original size. 

Place the dough in the fridge overnight. 

The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit for one hours. 

After that, form the dough into 6 balls, about 200 grams each. Using a small rolling pin, roll out 1/3 of the dough, spray it with spray oil or brush with olive oil, and fold the flap over the top of the dough ball. 

Once you've shaped the dough balls, place them in a floured tea towel-lined 10 inch cake pan with a drinking glass in the middle. 

Cover the shaped dough with oiled plastic wrap and let it rest until doubled. 

Optionally, you can also decorate the top of the shaped dough by using a decorative stencil and sprinkle flour on top to decorate the loaf. You can create your own stencil or use one that is commercially available. 

Bake the bread on a sheet pan with a steam pan on a lower rack at 480 degrees F for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 450 degrees for another 25 minutes. 

This month, the Bread Bakers are posting recipes for French breads. French breads are legendary, including country bread, baguettes (my nemesis), pain tordu, fouace Nantaise, pain fendu, pain d'epi, pain au chocolat, and fougasse with olives and rosemary. 

I really loved this bread, even though my presentation is not what I was looking for. In fact, everyone in my family took home a round of this bread. 

Stay tuned for my updated versions while I work on my shaping and decorating skills. 

French Breads:  

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Brioche 
• Food Lust People Love: Cheater Pain aux Raisins 
• The Wimpy Vegetarian : Fougasse 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: La Couronne Lyonaise 
• Culinary Cam: Pain au Chocolat 
• A Messy Kitchen: Pain Brié 
• Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Pain de campagne 
• Sneha's Recipe : Sourdough French Bread

La Couronne Lyonaise

Yield: 18

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 1 HourCook time: 1 HourInactive time: 12 HourTotal time: 14 Hour

This Couronne Lyonaise is a French bread that originated in Lyon, France. This one includes both a sourdough starter along with a little bit of yeast.

Ingredients

• 584 grams bread flour
• 65 grams whole rye flour
• 398 grams cool water
• 140 grams 100% hydration sourdough starter (fed within the last 2 weeks)
• 13 grams salt
• 3 grams (1 teaspoon) instant yeast

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flours, water, and starter, and mix on low for 10 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for one hour.
2. Add the salt and instant yeast and mix on low for five minutes. Let rest for 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl or Cambro container and cover with oiled plastic wrap.
3. Stretch and fold the dough, cover again, and let rest for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold again.
4. Let the dough rise, covered with oiled plastic wrap, for about 2 to 4 hours, until the volume has increased by 50 percent. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
5. The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let rest for one hour.
6. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces, about 200 grams each, and form each into a ball.
7. Set up a 9 or 10 inch cake pan by lining it with a floured tea towel. Place an oiled drinking glass in the center.
8. Using a small rolling pin, roll out 1/3 of each dough ball Spray or brush with oil and place each ball in the pan, folded side down and the flap facing the outside.
9. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rest until doubled. In the meantime, heat your oven to 480 degrees F with a rack in the middle. Place a broiler pan on the lowest rack.
10. When the dough is ready, remove the plastic wrap and cover the dough with a parchment lined baking sheet. Turn everything over, remove the cake pan and the towel. Optionally, decorate the bread with flour, using a stencil.
11. Place the baking sheet on the center rack and add a cup of boiling water to the broiler pan. Quickly close the oven door. Bake for 15 minutes
12. Reduce the oven temperature to 450 degrees F and bake for an additional 25 minutes.
13. Cool the loaf on a wire rack completely.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

170

Fat (grams)

2 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

1 g

Carbs (grams)

33 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

32 g

Sugar (grams)

4 g

Protein (grams)

5 g

Cholesterol (grams)

4 mg

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