Brioche

Traditional Brioche a Tete

     Brioche is somewhere between a bread a a pastry, with its light fine crumb and sweet taste while still having the structure of bread.  It is still made using the same method as other breads but features a much higher butter and egg content. Our recipe for example use two sticks of butter and six eggs for two 1-lb loaves.  Brioche is a very versatile dough that can be used for making everything from standard loaves to the traditional Brioche a tete(which is cooked in a fluted pan) to doughnuts or sticky buns. The richness of this dough lends itself especially well towards sweet creations.

Brioche fresh out of the oven

     Our recipe was considered a no-knead brioche and eliminated much of the work that is required for traditional brioche and the resulting product was remarkably similar to brioche made using the traditional process.  The traditional process uses softened butter that is slowly added to the dough after it is formed and all of the butter is allowed to incorporate before the next portion is added.  This intensive mixing (over 20 minutes in a stand mixer) raises the temperature of the dough so much it requires a 6 hour rest in the freezer before an overnight rest in the refrigerator.

Cross-section showing crumb

 Our recipe instead used melted butter mixed in with the eggs and four series of stretches and folds to strengthen the dough.  It was then placed in the refrigerator overnight and divided, shaped and proofed the next day before baking.
    The brioche was delicious and was one of my favorite breads we have made.  I want to try other recipes using the dough such as making doughnuts and seeing how it turns our.  I believe that this dough would be great with fillings such as chocolate and made into small rolls.  I had my brioche with lemon curd and it was wonderfully tasty.  The brioche along with the challah would make wonderful french toast because of the richness of the bread.