brioche

I love the shape, the shine, the texture, the taste, the flavour and the 'Frenchness' of brioche..

Brioche making is a two to three day affair because very little yeast is used and the dough is usually given three risings, one of which is in a cold place, and this process takes a long time. 

I decided to by- pass all this and kept my dough in the fridge for two hours and gave it no 'warm room' rising at all. I didn't knock it back after the first hour either. It is far too sticky to even contemplate touching. The net result was my brioche was excellent so this way of making it is really worth trying.

Serve brioche thickly sliced and toasted: plain or with any jam or marmalade or a mixture of cinnamon and sugar sprinkled over the top.

Brioche also makes excellent French toast: take 4 thick slices and dip them, one at a time, into a mixture of 4 eggs, 100ml cream and 100ml milk. Make sure each slice is well saturated. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and cook each slice about 2 minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Combine 50g castor sugar with 1teaspoon cinnamon powder and sprinkle over the cooked bread. Serve the French toast with a compote of berries and some yoghurt or ice cream.

Ingredients for Brioche:

190g plain organic white flour

2 teaspoons dried yeast

2 teaspoons castor sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

125g unsalted butter cut into small cubes, at room temperature

1 egg and 1tablespoon milk for glazing

Method.

Mix all the ingredients together except the butter cubes and the glaze. Stir well. Using electric beaters mix on a low speed for 4 minutes then high speed for 4 minutes. Lower speed to medium and add butter cubes, a few at a time, until the butter is incorporated into the mixture and it's smooth and soft and very sticky.

Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover. Place in the refrigerator and leave there  for two hours.

Grease a fluted brioche tin, line with non-stick baking paper. Spoon the dough into the tin and brush lightly with the glaze.

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes. The brioche is cooked when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean. Leave to cool for a few minutes then turn out onto a wire cake rack and let cool completely.