Ingredients
- 1 large baguette
- 120 g butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 garlic cloves, finely grated or crushed
- Small bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- 150 g hard cheese, coarsely grated
Method
- Make the garlic butter. Mash the softened butter with the dill, garlic and salt, then leave it to sit while you cut the bread.
- Slice the baguette. Cut across the loaf at 2 cm intervals, most of the way down but never through the base.
- Butter every slit. Brush the top, then push the butter into each slit with the back of a spoon.
- Fill with cheese. Pack the grated cheese into every slit. Whatever lands on top browns into crisp edges.
- Bake covered, then bare. Wrap in foil and bake at 180°C for 15 minutes, then open it and give it 8 to 10 more until golden.
- Rest and pull apart. Rest 2 minutes so the cheese stretches instead of running, then tear it apart at the table.
Why it works
Cutting crosswise instead of lengthwise turns every slit into a pocket that traps butter and cheese, so the loaf steams from the inside while the crust stays crisp.
Two things matter. Use butter that is genuinely soft, not melted, or the dill and garlic slide off instead of suspending in it. And keep the foil on for the first 15 minutes: uncovered from the start, the crust darkens long before the cheese in the deepest slits has melted.