With a family wide fondness for anise and an apparent shortage of baked goods containing it (save for the Bake Shop sweet rolls in AK, which, surprisingly, don't fare too well on the plane ride home) we were ecstatic to stroll into Portland's Pearl Bakery expecting a nice croissant treat and find something even better. Le. Gibassier. You don't even need to know how to pronounce it in order to appreciate its deliciousness. I think it's French. It doesn't matter though, great flavors know no language barriers and never judge you for mispronunciations.
Since Amy was still here and has been thinking about making them for a while (and since my mom keeps a note in her iphone to remind her what they're called in case she ever wants to look up the recipe and make them), we decided to give it a shot and see how accurately we could replicate them at home.
If you don't have a kitchen scale at home, now is a good time to make friends with someone who does. If you don't want to make new friends purely for exploiting them for their kitchen appliances, then you can save $10 and go buy your own. Either way, it's pretty much impossible to make this recipe without a scale.
LE GIBASSIER
(Adapted from Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas)
For the sponge
85 grams bread flour
39 grams milk
11 grams egg 25g
1/8 tsp instant Yeast
Combine, cover and ferment at room temperature for 12-16 hours.
For the final dough
326 grams bread flour
95 grams egg
81 grams granulated sugar
7 grams salt
12 grams yeast
60 grams butter (cold, but pliable)
60 grams olive oil
Juice of one orange
28 grams water
7 grams anise seed
zest of one orange
82 grams candied orange peel
Sponge
Pour liquids, then sponge into the bowl of the mixer. Add dry ingredients except sugar, candied fruit, zest and anise seed. Incorporate all slowly for about 2 minutes. Put the dough hook on the mixer and knead for 9-11 minutes on medium speed. The dough should have a great deal of gluten strength and hold a strong window. Slowly sugar. Incorporate before each new addition.
When a nice dough window can be formed, add the butter. Bring the dough back up to an intensive consistency, with very strong gluten formation. Add candied fruit, zest and anise seed at the lowest speed, just to incorporate. Place rounded dough into oiled bowl, cover so no crust forms, and ferment for 1 hour.
Round the dough lightly into a boule, let rest for 20 minutes.
Roll to about 3/4" thick and cut into desired shapes. Lightly cut 3-4 slits on top of the shapes if you wish to. Place on parchment-lined pan and let rise again for approximately 1 1/2hours. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown, about 10-15 min. Brush with melted butter and toss in granulated sugar.
