Baking & Pastry Project #19 - Brioche
When my family all gets together...my Dad and I tend to become the fodder of the family snicker...especially at breakfast.
We have a tendency to go on a jam, preserves, jelly or curd adventure. We grab a bunch of spoons and start tasting our way through what ever new or interesting jams we've come across. I have a weakness for lime curd while my Dad has a thing for pineapple preserves. We draw a dividing line in the jar of fig preserves...his side and my side.
I think it's the number of spoons on the counter that starts the snickering. Maybe it's the lack of bread at our little jam fest.
We're not sugar junkies. It's the smooth sugary fruity perfection of the jam. A flavor that is subdued when you add it to bread.
To stiffle some of the snickerers, we picked up some English muffins and I made a brioche. It was a fabulously buttery and rich egg bread. So much so, we all fell into a bit of gluttony when it was cool enough to eat.
Out came the butter and the jam collection to adorn chunks of bread cut by our kids. The smell of the bread was driving them crazy, so they fixed up the bread for us all to try. By the time we were done, there was just a collection of crumbs on the platter.
Recipe
Bread
35 g brown rice flour (3.15 g)
35 g sweet rice flour (2.1 g)
35 g arrowroot starch (.105 g)
60 g almond meal (12 g)
60 g millet flour (6.9g)
52 g white bean flour (11.18 g)
6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
3 g agar agar powder
22 g instant dry yeast
38 g sugar
5 g sea salt
170 g butter, softened & pliable
113 g eggs
70 ml whole milk, room temperature
Egg Wash
57 g egg
60 ml milk
smidgeon sea salt
Dough
1. Combine the flours, agar agar, chia seed and yeast. Then add the eggs, milk, sugar, salt and mix. Gradually add the butter to the dough. Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put the bowl into the refrigerator and chill overnight.
2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place onto a floured piece of parchment paper. Pull off a portion of dough, about the size of 2 golf balls. Gently shape into a ball and then press one side into a point so it makes a soft cone. Shape the large piece of dough into a ball and place into a greased and floured brioche pan (4 or 5 inch pan). In the center of the large ball, press your finger into it and gently work your finger around so it makes a cone shaped hole. Insert the end of the cone of the small ball into the hole. Set aside in a warm location and allow to rise for 2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 385 degrees Fahrenheit/196 degrees Celsius. Make the egg wash and gently brush over the top of the brioche. Place the brioche pan on a cookie sheet and put into the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving.
