I recently received a Christmas present form Amy. It's a ceramic cloche (French for bell) and it's used for baking bread in a regular kitchen oven. The bell-shaped cover traps moisture, keeps the crust soft and stretchable which enables oven spring. Oven spring is expansion of the dough that happens while baking.
To use a cloche, the process is not complicated. You mix your dough and proof it overnight in a well floured wicker banneton. In the morning, remove from the refrigerator, uncover and let it rise for an hour or so. Invert the dough ball into the preheated ceramic base plate. Cover and bake at 450F for 20 minutes. Remove the lid (cloche) and bake for another 20 minutes or until the centre reaches 200F.
Whenever I bake bread, Yvonne takes that opportunity to bake too. Today she baked some gingersnap cookies.
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