Brioche

[DMurray]

I just watched Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) make some brioche on her show today. I've never eaten it, made it or even given it much thought, but it looked kind of good when she made it (with fresh strawberry jam). I'm looking through recipes and comparing them right now-does anyone have a tried and true recipe they really like? I did a search and found lots of recipes using leftover brioche, but not too many for the bread itself. My other question is-Ina made hers in little mini brioche tins. I looked in one of my catalogs (SweetCelebrations/Maid of Scandanavia-it just happened to come today!) and they say their mini brioche tins hold 1/2 cup. Do you guys think I would be able to use muffin tins just to experiment? I don't want to buy the little tins if I'm never going to make it again.
Thanks!
Deb

[DMurray]

After looking through my cookbooks, I found several other brioche recipes, but none quite as decadant as Ina's (with 6 eggs and 1/2# butter)-though none of them are low fat, as the name would imply, I guess. I did see several references to baking the mini rolls in "well greased muffin tins".
Here is Ina Garten's recipe:


Mini Brioche Rolls Copyright, 2004, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved
See this recipe on air Wednesday Feb. 15 at 5:00 PM ET/PT.

This recipe is available for a limited time only. Why?



Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 11 hours 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 20 rolls
User Rating:




1/2 cup warm water (110 to 120 degrees F)
1 package dried yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
4 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (If the bowl is cold, start with warmer water so it's at least 110 degrees F when you add the yeast.) Mix with your hands and allow to stand for 5 minutes until the yeast and sugar dissolve. Add the eggs and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, until well mixed. With the mixer on low speed, add 2 cups of the flour and the salt and mix for 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low, add 2 more cups of flour and mix for 5 more minutes. Still on low speed, add the soft butter in chunks and mix for 2 minutes, scraping down the beater, until well blended. With the mixer still running, sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Switch the paddle attachment to a dough hook and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the dough into a large buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Grease 2 sheet pans. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and divide the dough into 20 (1 3/4-ounce) balls (rolls) and place on the sheet pans. Cover the pans with a damp towel and set aside to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
When the rolls have risen, brush the top of each with the egg wash and bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back and it sounds slightly hollow when tapped. Turn the rolls out onto a wire rack to cool.





Episode#: IG1C15
Copyright © 2003 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved
Deb

[Aubergine]

deb, go for it!!!! there are few things in life as transcendent as fresh-baked brioche, imo. when i was a kid, my bgf's french mother used to make it, and when i was a young student in paris, pain brioche (wish i knew how to keyboard those accent marks) was my #1 favorite food, with strawberry jam.

don't feel limited by the size nor shape. take heart!!!! my Julia Child MtAoFC, Vol II, shows various vessels and states, "you can use anything you have available, from a small baking dish or oven-proof-bowl for large brioches to Pyrex cups or muffin tins for small ones." so, no excuses....

[reneeinnorthwes]

Deb,

I recently made Ina's brioche and it was good! Not lowfat but certainly a fun treat to share with friends. I took it out of the oven earlier than she suggested but it was still slightly over done. I didn't want to use the little pans either (aka.. I didn't want to buy them) so I used two of my standard bread pans. It was a big hit.

Note: The recipe in her cookbook makes two loaves. There are lots of steps to make it (including rising overnight) but they were all pretty easy.

Also, if you got it off the of the FoodTV website - they limit the availability of all the recipes to 2 weeks after the show (if I remember correctly).

Renee

[DMurray]

Thanks for the encouragement-it's on the menu for brunch on Sunday. I also found a few good sounding recipes on the King Arthur site-the basic recipe looks like it makes less dough than Ina's, but it uses the same amount of butter-yikes! Sounds good though. I'll probably just try Ina's and invite the kids over to eat the extras.

Here is the basic recipe for KAF brioche:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/getrecipe.php/id/R439

and the Cinnamon Pecan Swirl Version (takes fewer eggs and less butter . . . )

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/getrecipe.php/id/51332

Deb

[ttubbs]

... pain brioche (wish i knew how to keyboard those accent marks)

In Windows you can use the US International Keyboard (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306560).
It's easy, see -> pain brioché

Edited to add that if you only want to do this once in a great while, it would be less hassel to use the Character Map (http://www.compukiss.com/sandyclassroom/tutorials/article751.htm) (if installed, for unknown reasons, work machines often leave this off). MS Word has a "Insert Symbol" menu too, in the Edit or Format menus I think.