Combine the "A" dry ingredients in a bowl, and use a whisk to mix thoroughly.

Combine the "B" ingredients in a separate container, and mix well. Adjust the water temperature depending on the room temperature.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix with a spatula until no longer floury. * Repeat the motions of cutting and folding by scraping and pulling the dough from the bottom of the bowl.

Once the dough reaches the state shown in Step 3 (about 70% combined), use your hands to mix into a ball until the flour is almost completely incorporated.

For those who are able, use a spatula to gather the dough without using your hands.

Cover the bowl in plastic wrap or with a shower cap to prevent the dough from drying out, and let it sit for 30 minutes at 20-27℃.

Bring the dough together, cover in plastic wrap and let it sit for another 30 minutes at 20-27℃. I changed bowls for the sake of clarity, but you may use the same bowl.

While it depends on your desired texture, unlike regular bread dough, ideally, the dough for pain rustique should tear apart when pulled apart at a distance.

After kneading the dough, return it to the bowl, then cover it with plastic wrap or a shower cap.

While preventing the dough from drying out, allow it to rise either in the refrigerator or in a temperature up to 25℃, as you prefer. If you're in a hurry, place it in the oven on the bread-rising setting at 30℃.

Rising proportions: 3 times with natural leaven (Hoshino), 2.5 times with dry yeast I mark the height so that I can easily judge the height.

Rising time: 12 hours or more in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator (depending on the temperature and amount of yeast) 3 hours or more at room temperature (depending on the room temperature and type of yeast)

While the bread is rising, prepare the caramelized walnuts. They are easy to make and super delicious even eaten as-is.

They are versatile and can also be preserved. The recipe gives an easy-to-make amount, so I recommend using the amounts given.

With cool dough risen in the refrigerator, remove it when it has risen 80-90 % to desired size, allowing it to finish rising at room temperature.

While the bread is rising, prepare a baker's couche (canvas cloth) by dusting it with all-purpose flour. Particularly for very moist dough.

Once the dough is finished rising, use a bench scraper to gently transfer it to the prepared couche. * The dough that was at the bottom of the bowl should now be on top.

Cover to prevent it from drying, then allow it to rest for 30 minutes. If the temperature is too warm, then set it in the refrigerator for this step.

After 30 minutes, stretch the dough into a rectangular sheet about 15 x 25 cm. Do this gently, by lightly pulling on the four corners.

With the heel of your palm, flatten the dough; do not press out the trapped air (only gently and evenly distribute any large bubbles).

Place desired amount of the caramelized walnuts along the center of the dough.

The walnuts should be placed in clusters to be distributed among the desired amount of finished pain rustique loaves.

For even distribution, place a cluster in the center, then a cluster at each end, then place a cluster between the center and end clusters on each side.

Although it takes some effort, carefully place the walnuts as shown in Steps 29 and 30 to prevent them from spilling out of the center. The photo shows how they should not look.

Referring to Step 18, fold the front 1/3 of the dough over the center. *Take care not to press out the air. *Do not press down on the dough more than necessary.

On top of the folded portion of dough, place a smaller portion of the caramelized walnuts, distributed in the same way as in Steps 29 and 30.

Fold the remaining 1/3 of the dough over the top of the walnuts. In effect, wrapping the caramelized walnuts in the dough by folding it into thirds.

Coat a bench scraper with oil or flour, then divide the dough into 5 equal loaves. * If the seam on the top looks untidy, gently flip them over.

Place the loaves into a baker's couche with plenty of space in between. To make sure the loaves don't lose shape, gather the edges of the canvas to make walls for the pockets.

Gather the edges of the canvas and secure them with a clip or similar device.

Allow the dough to rise a second time to 1.5 times in size around 30℃.

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While Steps 37 and 38 instruct to allow 5 loaves to rise, because of my particular my baking conditions, I separated the dough into two loaves.

If you're baking conditions are not particular, such as mine, 5 loaves should fit on a single baking tray of a normal oven.

While waiting for the final proofing, melt the butter. This is a browned butter that I keep a stock of in my freezer.

Once the second proofing is over, gently place the loaves on parchment paper. The dough is very soft, so I recommend using a bench scraper coated in flour.

Sprinkle all-purpose flour over the loaves, then slash the tops once or twice.

For this recipe, I grip the blade of the knife between my pointer finger and thumb, and slash the tops about 3 mm deep. The photo shows the blade I use.

Brush the slashed opening with melted butter, then sprinkle on the granulated sugar. I recommend using a generous amount of sugar.

Before baking, spritz the entire loaf (except for the slashed opening) with water. For those with a steam-oven function, spritz lightly.

Place the parchment paper on a heat-proof board or thick piece of cardboard. It should be a slippery surface to use to slide the parchment paper into the oven.

Preheat the oven with the baking tray inside on the maximum temperature setting. Reduce it to 230℃, then slide the loaves onto the baking tray while still placed on the parchment paper.

Quickly spritz the loaves inside the oven several times, then bake for 15-20 minutes and they're done. The baking time and temperature may vary depending on the oven.

I lay pie stones at the bottom of my oven (TOSHIBA-ER-A9) with an oven thermometer.

Turn off the oven, then place a pizza stone (mine is DeLonghi) and pie stones on a baking tray to set in the center rack.

This is set-up is particular to my oven, which has horizontal air-flow. If your oven has vertical air-flow as shown, do not use this method.

While letting the loaves rest in Step 25, preheat the oven to 250℃ on hot-air mode. After preheating, set it on regular baking mode.

Place the loaves on the pizza stone with an oven temperature of 230℃ (in my case, with an oven setting of 250℃), pour water over the pie stones in front of the pizza stone to steam-bake.

After 3 1/2 minutes, pour 70 ml boiling water over the pie stones on the bottom rack to steam-bake. Turn on the oven.

After 10 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 230℃ and remove the parchment paper. After baking for 5 more minutes, they are done.

For those who have the same model oven as mine, try this method using a DeLonghi pizza stone.

The sugar tops are nice and crispy with a buttery aroma Biting into the crunchy cinnamon-scented caramelized walnuts is truly delightful.

Enjoy the combination of the fluffy and chewy dough with a subtle cinnamon scent and the crispy crust.

Even with an old oven, beginners at baking hard bread, like me, can bake a nice pain rustique with a shiny gluten film and various sized air bubbles.

Even with a high water content, you don't need any experience in bread making to succeed. Give it a try, even if it's your first time.

I recommend snacking on the cinnamon-scented caramelized walnuts as-is.

Here is a my recipe for "The Ultimate Walnut Caramel Pound Cake" using Cinnamon-Scented Caramelized Walnuts.

Here is my easy recipe for "The Ultimate Walnut Caramel Cookies".

https://cookpad.wasmer.app/us/recipes/170277-the-ultimate-walnut-caramel-cookie

This is the recipe I referred to for my bread doughuser Tan-chan's "Sugar Butter Top Rustique"

My favorite recipe for natural leaven by user putimiko's recipe for "Hoshino Natural Leaven Starter"