Home Made Brioche


Brioche is kind of like if a loaf of bread and a cake got together and made a baby, although its not sweet the texture is more cake then bread... If that makes sense! It chef terms, it's a leavened dough using yeast as the raising agent, and it is enriched with butter and eggs.

I made a free-form one, but I think next time I'll bake it in a mould, or even a ring or loaf tin because it took a while to cook like this and ended up splitting, it still tasted delicious though!

You will need..
400gr plain flour (strong flour if you have it
5gr dried yeast
10gr fine salt
90ml warm milk
2 Tbsp of caster sugar
100gr butter, softened and cut into small chunks
4 medium, free range eggs, beaten

For brushing, 1 beaten egg and a splash of milk

Method...
Chilling time: Overnight
Proving time: 3-4 hours
Make a day ahead

 1. Add yeast to milk with the caster sugar and set aside to activate (let it become a bit frothy)
2. Sift the flour and mix in the salt and sugar.
3. Add the eggs to the yeast mixture and mix, then make a well in the centre of the flour and add the yeast and egg mixture. Add the butter and start to combine.
4. Once dough starts coming together, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes. The dough needs to be slightly sticky so don't add too much flour. Dough is well kneaded when it is smooth and elastic.

5. Place the dough in a bowl, tightly cover with glad wrap and rest in the fridge overnight.
6. Once the dough has rested overnight, remove it from the fridge and divide into two (or smaller portions if you wish. Place in greased moulds if you are using or place on a lined baking tray if you are making a free-formed brioche. Leave the dough to prove in a warm area for at least 3-4 hours or until almost doubled in size.
7. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius, brush the dough with 1 beaten egg and a splash of milk mixed together as the glaze. Place in the hot oven for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature down to 180 and bake for a further 30-35 minutes (this is if the dough is split into two loaves- if you have split it into 4, halve the cooking time)

8. The brioche is ready when it is golden brown and if an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly before slicing with a sharp knife.
9. You can serve the brioche with any kind of filling you wish, it goes well with sweetened cream cheese and toasted fruit, or even as a savoury dish with sautéed creamed mushrooms.
It has character!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vegetable Mornay

Image
This is a classic dish that can dress up the most boring vegetables. I personally think cheese or bacon (or sometimes both) can make any meal better! You will need... 1/2 a large head of cauliflower 1 head of broccoli 1 large carrot 2 washed potatoes (I used red delight) 1 cup of peas (fresh or frozen) For the sauce 75gr buttter 1/3 cup plain flour 3 cups whole milk salt & pepper & freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 cup cheddar cheese For the topping 1 cup cheddar cheese 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 2 tbs roughly chopped flat leaf parsley Method... 1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius, grease a large 3-4Lt capacity ceramic baking dish. 2. Peel the carrot and potato and dice into 1 inch pieces then transfer to a microwave safe bowl with a little water, cover with glad wrap and microwave for 1 minute on high to begin the cooking process. Drain and set aside. Wash the cauliflower and broccoli and trim into neat florets.  3. Melt the butter in
Read more

George Calombaris' Pasticcio (AKA Greek Lasagna)

Image
Ohhh pasticcio... This recipe gives me so many warm and fuzzies. My mum always used to make it for me when I was younger for special occasions like my birthday and Easter so I associate it with fun times and getting presents and all that good stuff. The one my mum made came from the old faithful Margaret Fulton Cookbook circa late sixties/early seventies... I'm not sure what my Italian mum was doing making Greek recipes written by an Australian cookbook guru but anyway... it must have been en-vogue when the book was written and I'm not complaining because it's delicious. Mum's pasticcio was put together 'lasagna-style' with layers of curly-edge lasagna sheets that would get all crispy and brown on the edges. She would layer the pasta sheets with the tomato and beef sauce and béchamel and then bake it, and it would usually take her a while to prepare. My New Favourite Cookbook! I like this recipe by George Calombaris because it still has all that wo
Read more

Anna-Maria's Zucchini Slice

Image
This is Anna-Maria’s Zucchini Slice from Stephanie Alexander’s Cooks Companion …   I’ve tweaked it a little as I’m sure most people do, it’s one of those no-rules recipes where you can customise it as much or as little as you like. I love zucchini because it is such a versatile vegetable (although technically it’s an immature fruit- wiki will tell you it’s a swollen ovary of a zucchini flower… sounds appetising), you can put them in almost anything because they don’t have a very strong flavour, which is great when it comes to hiding veggies from your kids! I’ve even eaten a chocolate cake that had grated zucchini in it and it was one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had- so moist (haha MOIST!) You will need… ¼ cup of olive oil (the recipe says half a cup but you really don’t need that much) 500g zucchini, grated 1 small carrot, grated 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 200gr smoked bacon, finely chopped 100g freshly grated p
Read more