Brioche – have you ever tried making your own brioche? This recipe for Beautiful Baby Brioche is an easy way to introduce yourself to the world of yeast-risen baked products.
Brioche is happiest when it has had a chance to chill for awhile, making it an excellent make-ahead option for your menu planning. Besides, making brioche is loads of fun and easy to do.
“BBB’s” – Beautiful Baby Brioche Buns
I was inspired to make this for a TGIF appetizer event. If you think outside of the box a little, making tiny brioche bun-bites instead of brioche bread or brioche rolls is a wonderful way to highlight this rich bread. Because of its richness and the micro size, keep the filling to a minimum. Just make sure that the ingredients you do use are of excellent quality.
Brioche Sandwich Filling Suggestions:
- Manchego Cheese and mango chutney
- Applewood Smoked Cheddar and UrbnSpice Caramelized Onion and Roasted Garlic Confiture
- Ricotta Cheese or plain goat cheese and UrbnSpice’s Roasted Strawberry Confiture with Fine Italian Balsamic
BRIOCHE
CHEF TALK: This brioche recipe is adapted into appetizer-sized brioche buns (sometimes called briochettes) from Food Network Star, Laura Calder. It is one of my favourite doughs to work with. It is a beautiful recipe and I know that you will enjoy trying it!
Yield: 2 Loaves, or many tiny appetizer size brioches (approximately 4 dozen)
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 envelopes dry active yeast (about 16 g)
- 6 tablespoons warm milk or dairy-free alternative
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free alternative
- 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg yolk
- Milk for wash
METHOD:
- Stir the yeast into the warm milk, with the salt and sugar. Set aside for five minutes to dissolve.
- Using a stand mixer, (or large bowl) place the flour into a mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment.
- Add the eggs and the yeast mixture into the mixer bowl. Mix on slow until a soft, sticky dough forms.
- Add the butter, a piece at a time.
- Butter or oil a large bowl and dump the brioche dough into the bowl.
- Cover and let the dough rise at room temperature for a couple of hours.
- Now the fun part – punch down the risen dough.
- Put it back in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight to double.
- Shape the bread; let it rise 1 1/2 hours in the pan (about one hour for the baby brioche).
- When you are ready to bake the buns, combine the yolk and milk to make a wash.
- Bake the loaves at 425ºF/220°C for 40 to 45 minutes. For the baby brioche, bake for 15 minutes.
For the tiny brioche buns: In step 3, instead of shaping the dough into loaves, I cut the dough in half, then half again. From each portion, I make 12 small balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise until doubled. (this may take a while, depending on how cold the dough is and how warm your kitchen is). Brush the rolls gently with the egg wash and bake until golden. Watch them carefully – these buns are tiny.
NOTES: Brioche is one bread that you have to be careful that it is not excessively warm in the area that you choose for your proofing area of the kitchen (letting the bread dough rise) – you do not want all the lovely butter to melt in your buns.
Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:
- Proofing – Yeast
- Blooming
- Oven Temperature Accuracy
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You Might Also Like:
UrbnSpice Discusses Baking Tips
UrbnSpice Makes Veggie Burgers
Challenging the Art of Sourdough
The Art of Doing Without – including a vintage recipe for Salt-Risen Bread
If you try my recipe for Beautiful Baby Brioche, please leave me a comment below with your feedback.
You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!
Denise Paré-Watson
The Urbnspice Chef
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