Just Baking

Ok, no more alliteration!

Brioche is something I’d heard of before, seen on TV, but I’d never had it let along made it. I knew what was in it; I have recipes in about 4 different books for it, and a Google search brings back “about 4,130″ results. It’s not hard to find how to make brioche.

I was making foie gras for a party, and I thought the brioche would go really well with it. Why? Was it:

A. Because I have such a keen culinary mind that I just knew that the butteriness of the brioche would pair well with the foie gras’s fatiness?

B. Because the genius-level gastronimical intuitiveness that I’ve so carefully honed knew that the flaky texture of the bread would so beautifully contrast to the smooth texture of the duck liver?

C. I had foie gras at a restaurant that was served on brioche so I copied it?

You can make your own guesses (keep in mind that my wife says all multiple choice answers are ‘C’).

Regardless of the REAL reason I decided to use this for foie gras, I pushed ahead and took down my Bread Baker’s Apprentice, only to find not one but three recipes. Since I was baking this for a party, I went with the Rich Man’s brioche, as it used the most butter.

Rich Man’s Brioche

from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Sponge

• 1/2 cup unbleached bread flour
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm whole milk

Dough

• 5 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg, whisked until frothy, for egg wash

Sponge

Place the flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl and stir together. Add the milk and stir, until the flour is completely hydrated. Let the sponge ferment for 20 minutes, covered with plastic wrap. The sponge is ready when the bowl is tapped and the sponge rises and then falls.

In the same mixing bowl, add the eggs and beat on medium spead until it’s smooth. When I say to beat something with the mixer, I’m using the paddle attachment, not the kneading hook. Separately, put the flour, sugar and salt, and stir it. Add to the sponge and eggs, then mix for 2 minutes. The gluten needs to develop, so rest the dough for about 5 minutes. Start mixing again on a medium setting and add the butter, 1/4 of the total amount at a time. Each time butter is added, mix until it’s blended into the dough before adding more. Continue to mix for about 6 minutes more. As the dough mixes, the butter causes it to stick to the sides of the bowl; stop the mixer and scrape this down periodically. The dough ends up soft and smooth and really clingy.

The recipe says to line a sheet pan with parchment to put the dough onto here, but I sprayed the inside of a gallon ziplock bag and put the dough in the back instead. I put the dough in the refrigerator overnight then. In the morning, I took the dough out of the fridge, and quickly formed 2 balls which went into fluted pans, and one loaf that went into a regular bread pan. I worked quickly, as the recipe says to work the dough when it’s cold. I also used nitrile gloves to keep the dough from sticking too badly. I filled the pans so they were only about half full, allowing room for the bread to expand while proofing.

After the dough was in the pans, I lightly sprayed it with some Pam and covered with plastic wrap. After a couple of hours, the dough had about filled the pans, and I brushed the egg wash over the top of the loaves of dough and recovered for about 30 minutes, about when the dough had doubled since going into the pans.

The recipe called for the oven to be preheated to 400 °F for petites brioches. I didn’t make these, so I set it to the lower setting of 350 °F. I actually preheated the oven well before the dough was ready, so that my Hearthkit would be up to temperature, too. I baked the brioches for 15 minutes, turning it around at 10 minutes for even browning, then checked to see if the bread was done. It took about 4 more minutes until it got to where I liked the color. I immediately removed the bread from the pans and put the loaves on a cooling rack. I cut into one of the fluted loaves to try it. I almost wish I hadn’t! It’s just too good.

So I learned what brioche is, and I learned that I shouldn’t make it too often; that’s a lot of butter!  I didn’t have to butter it to grill it, though, and probably wouldn’t want to toast it in the toaster, as it may catch on fire from burning the butter!

Overall, this was one of the easier breads I’ve made, yet it came out beautifully.  I have my gastrointestinal, I mean gastronomical, gut instincts to thank… Ok, I have the chef at the River Cafe to thank for letting me know how good brioche and foie gras are together; now I know how good brioche is all by its lonesome!