This recipe reimagines the classic French “ficelle” as a hearty, savory breakfast, lunch or snacking bread, with a generous filling of salty, smoked thick-cut bacon, soft-scrambled eggs, sharp cheddar and nutty gruyère, laminated directly into the dough, becoming a slender, high-impact loaf where every bite is a balance of crust and core !
A measured blend of all-purpose and whole-wheat flours offers a perfect balance of elasticity and rustic flavor, but using only bread flour is equally excellent.
The addition of malt extract powder provides a deep, mahogany crust that is crispier and tastier so I use non-diastatic malt extract not just for color, but for the complex, toasted sugars it introduces. It accelerates the Maillard reaction, giving you that professional "boulangerie" look in a standard home oven.
The filling includes a touch of fried onions but can be replaced or complemented with chopped sun-dried tomatoes (if you prefer to avoid the power of onions too early in the day), with a sprinkling of grated cheeses and parsley on the inside and the outside, to accompany the sesame seeds on the crust.
Using a professional "envelope and twist" technique, the filling is laminated directly into the dough as well as peeking out of the sides, all the way around. The result is a slender, high-impact loaf where every bite is a strategic balance of crust and core. If left flat, it bakes even flatter.
The soul of a great ficelle lies in its gluten network. Because we are loading this dough with heavy inclusions (fats from the bacon and cheeses and moisture from the eggs), the dough needs a robust architecture. Don't rush the initial mix. You are looking for the "windowpane" effect—where the dough can be stretched thin enough to see light through it without tearing. If you are using all-purpose flour rather than high-protein bread flour, consider adding 5-10g of Vital Wheat Gluten. This "insurance policy" ensures the dough can support the weight of the fillings and maintain its spiral shape during the final rise.
To achieve a crisp crust without a professional steam oven, I use a two-stage lid method; for the expansion, bake in a covered dish (with a separate tray of water at the bottom of the oven) for 10-12 minutes, because the trapped steam keeps the crust soft, allowing the yeast one last "oven spring" push, and then for the color and crispy crust, remove the lid and bake for 5-6 minutes more, because this is where the egg-milk wash, malt extract, grated gruyère and sesame seeds work their magic, turning the surface into a crispy, golden-brown landscape.
And of course, even though the proces takes time, if compared to making 2 sandwiches per day for 4-6 days, in the end, it is a tasty time-saver !
And with so many possibilities with different fillings, why not try it ? … :)
