Fouace de Rodez

A yeasted enriched dough is made: Triticum aestivum T55 flour, fresh Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, warm whole-milk, unsalted-butter, beaten Gallus gallus domesticus eggs, caster-sugar, Camargue sea-mineral-salt, orange-blossom water (Grasse or Tunisian distillate), and whole Pimpinella anisum seeds. The butter is incorporated after the initial mix, working the dough until it is smooth and elastic. The dough rests 2 hours. It is then divided into a long rope, formed into a crown shape, and placed in an oiled ring mould or formed freehand on a baking sheet. A second rise of 90 minutes follows. The surface is brushed with beaten egg and scattered with pearl sugar or crushed sugar cubes. Baked at 170°C for 35–40 minutes until deep golden. Served at ambient temperature, torn by hand at table.

Rodez, Aveyron — the crown-shaped Aveyron Easter bread: a yeasted enriched dough scented with orange-blossom water and aniseed, baked in a ring and glazed with egg, eaten at Easter Sunday breakfast with Laguiole butter and honey from the Aubrac plateau. Distinct from the Loire's Fouée et Fouace de Touraine (id 3825), which is a puffed pocket bread made in a baker's oven — the Aveyron fouace is an enriched loaf more closely related to the brioche tradition, carrying the regional identity of the Rouergue.

Enriched bread with butter and egg richness, orange-blossom floral lift, and anise counterpoint. The sugar crust provides crunch against the soft crumb. Laguiole butter — the Aubrac plateau's raw-milk butter with its characteristic grass-and-hay note — is the canonical accompaniment: it takes the place the bread would take as a vehicle for the butter, reversing the usual bread-and-butter relationship.

The orange-blossom water must be distillate (from Grasse or Tunisia), not extract — the difference is structural: distillate gives a delicate, true floral note that fades gracefully during baking; extract is synthetic and harsh, surviving baking as a perfumed afterthought. The whole anise seeds provide the same burst-texture they give to the Fougasse d'Aigues-Mortes — whole seeds only. The butter must be incorporated slowly, in small pieces, as with brioche — adding too much at once inhibits gluten development.

Gallus gallus domesticus eggs — free-range, minimum 3 eggs per kg flour. Bos taurus whole-milk — fresh whole-milk, not UHT; the proteins in UHT milk are denatured and give a less elastic crumb. Unsalted-butter — Aveyron or Normandy 82% fat minimum; the butter must be at room temperature (not melted) for correct incorporation. Saccharomyces cerevisiae fresh yeast — 20g per kg flour.