Brioche

Brioche

A classic french bread..rich, slightly sweet with a soft golden crust and yellow buttery crumb..its delicious!

It is widely eaten in France with a milky coffee or hot chocolate for breakfast.

 Brioche originated in Normandy over 500 years ago when decadence was the order of the day.  During this time, lavish and extravagant french banquets were the norm, and butter was incorporated into foods, including its inclusion into bread.



The word Brioche is derived from the verb "brier" to knead, which is ironic because I hardly kneaded it (thank Kitchenaid for mixers!).  It mimics bread, but is technically a pastry because eggs, milk and butter are used in large amounts.

The use of these ingredients produces a very soft, moist dough that is unlike any other I have worked with.

Very soft dough

Begin by using the hook attachment on your mixer, if using one.  Place flour into the bowl and make a well in the center.  Add yeast and half of the milk.  Use a little of the flour in the bowl to cover over the wet ingredients.  This allows the yeast to begin activation.  Once bubbles form, add the sugar, salt and eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition.  Add the rest of the milk and also mix well.

Mix on low speed, making sure to stop the mixer and scrape the dough off the hook attachment after 5 minutes.  Continue mixing until consistency is smooth and elastic.

This is why you need to scrape the hook!

Add the butter, a little at a time and mix on medium speed.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured bench and (my favorite part) slap it hard onto the bench.  This smacking of dough onto the bench expels any air the yeast may have formed.  Do it six times.

Place dough into a large bowl, cover it and allow it to double in size.  Once this occurs, take it out and smack it onto the bench another six times.


Wrap it in plastic and leave it in the fridge overnight.
 

Tucking in the dough..goodnight...

 
Next, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.  Lightly grease brioche moulds or tins.  I used some brioche moulds and muffin tins..the results were asthetically different, but it did not affect the outcome otherwise.

Using tins and moulds

Break the dough into ten pieces and roll into shapes.  Whilst in France, I found what I called "the snowman" shape was the most popular, so I emulated this shape. 

Place the dough into the moulds or tins and allow them to rise, uncovered until doubled in size

Rolling portions into snowmen

Once they have risen, brush them in egg wash and bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius, turn the brioche upside down in their tins and cook for a further few minutes, allowing them to cook through.

Some Brioche are turned, others are not

To check if cooked, either use the skewer test or rip the  head off one of the snowmen to peek inside.

Cinnamon and glazed

 The local variations are many and include fillings such as chocolate or almonds or toppings such as orange glaze or sugar and cinnamon.

Chocolate drizzled brioche

Brioche can be made into individual portions,in a braided loaf or into a ring. Personally, prefer the individual sized portions, but it can be used to make a wonderful french toast or in a bread and butter pudding...the possibilities are endless!





 

Store bought on the left....

When I compared my Brioche to one bought from a French bakery (not to blow steam up my own bum...) I found my attempts to be more cake than bread, sweeter and smoother.  Maybe they skimp on the butter when making them commercially? I'm only speculating...


Well, there you have it folks...Brioche!  The recipe quantities are as follows:

500g plain flour
15g dried yeast
200ml lukewarm milk
1 egg yolk
65g sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
egg wash (1 egg, 1 yolk and 50ml milk beaten together)

Nougat

Nougat

Nougat is a dessert which holds great significance for me.  I can take a bite into the gooey goodness and instantly be transported back into my childhood.  My father used to bring home bite sized pieces of nougat for me when I was pre school and l loved it...still do!  

Ingredients

The origin of the word nougat comes from the french expression "Tu nous gates" (You're spoiling us!) And if someone has made you nougat, they really are!

As this picture depicts, there are not very many ingredients required to make nougat.  Unfortunately, this does not mean that its easy  to make.  Quite the contrary!

From Provence, the tradition of nougat as a sweet served at Christmas goes back 400 years.

To begin, prepare your trays by spraying them with oil and lining them with foil and edible rice paper.

Next,  mix the sugar, water and glucose syrup in a medium pot on the stove top.  Glucose syrup is very viscous, so heat it in the microwave for 40 seconds to make it easier to pour out. Glucose syrup prevents crystalisation of the sugar.

Add two egg whites into the bowl of your mixer and allow them to reach room temperature.  Also, fill your sink with cold water.

Keeping an eye on the temperature is imperative.  When the sugar mix reaches 120 degrees Celcius, turn on your mixer to a medium speed and beat the egg whites to form soft peaks.

Once the sugar mix reaches 140 degrees Celcius, take it off the heat and place the saucepan into the filled sink until the mixture stops bubbling.  Immersing the pot into cold water stops the sugar mix from cooking further.

On the stove top

Bring to the boil

Monitor temperature

Next, pour the sugar mix into the egg whites in a slow and steady stream. Beat the mix slowly for light and airy nougat or on medium heat for a more dense finish.  A vapour will form around the mixer bowl.  This is normal, just keep pouring in the sugar mix.  Once the sugar mix is incorporated, add the vanilla essence as well as any fruit or nuts you wish to use and mix for another 30 seconds.

Resting in tray

  At this point, it is very important that you work fast.  Turn off the mixer and remove your bowl.  Using a pastry scraper, scrape the nougat into your prepared tray.  Top with further fruit and nuts, edible rice paper and a piece of baking paper that has been sprayed with oil.  Allow to rest at room temperature for 6 hours.

Once the nougat has rested, take it out of the trays and place onto a chopping board.  Fill and boil your kettle.  Using a large knife that has been plunged into boiling water ( I pour boiling water onto the blade for 10 seconds and dry it before using it), cut the nougat into desired sized pieces.

 

Bars wrapped and packed

The first time I made nougat, I made the mistake of placing the cut pieces into a container as they were.  When I opened the container the next day, all the nougat had oozed and was all stuck together. 

 I have tried wrapping nougat in plastic wrap and then had issues with nougat sticking to the plastic.  The best option I have found is to use baking paper that has been lightly sprayed with oil.  

The combination of ingredients can be as wild as your imagination!  My favorite is sour cherry, cranberry and pistachio, although, I did make a batch of dried fig and almond which is now a contender for first place...get creative!

Here are the ingredient quantities:

2 egg whites

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

500 g glucose syrup

1 tsp vanilla essence

Nuts and fruit of choice 

Claufotis

Claufotis

Pronounced "clau" as in cloud minus the d and "foi" rhyming with boy, this flan style dish dates back to 1866 from the Limousin region.  It is a peasant dish that was made during the cherry season.

These days, every part of France has its own version, using fruits such as apricots, apples, plums and pears, whatever fruits are in season.

Traditionally, cherries were used with the pits intact, as it was stated that they pits added a bitter, almost almond flavor during cooking.  Some areas add a dash of armagnac or rum to the mix.

Pitted cherries

In my first attempt, I decided to pit the cherries so that I could try the task of pitting cherries (I've never pitted anything before) and so that guests did not have to spit the pits out. 

  

Pitting the cherries was a messy task, and a lot of the juice was lost during this process.  I can see why the pits were traditionally left in.  Much of the flavor would be lost if the cherries were pitted.

 









Claufotis is basically a batter that is baked with fruit mixed into it until it resembles a baked custard. It is served either warm or cool with a creme anglaise after being dusted in icing sugar.

First Attempt

Some of the tips and tricks out there include dusting the cherries with flour before adding them to the batter.  This stops them from sinking to the bottom of the dish, a tip that proved very useful.


Another is to pour 5cm of batter into the dish you plan to use and place it on the stove top until a film of batter has set in the bottom of the dish.  This is meant to aid the baking process, but I did not find it useful.

First attempt post baking

The first attempt was not good.  The flavor was great but I think I added too many cherries.  Also, the dish I used, whilst it was an appropriate size for the amount of batter the recipe yielded, was too deep.

I had to add a further 15 minutes to the cooking time, and left it in the oven whilst it was switched off and still warm.  Even with these modifications, the center of the claufotis was considerably softer than the outer rim.

 

Second attempt

My second attempt produced a smoother batter and I managed to remember to use less cherries.  As I had already pitted all the cherries I'd bought, I used pitted cherries for this batch too.



I also changed the dish I was to bake it in, using one that was more shallow.  As this left me with some batter, I decided to see how the claufotis would fair as an individual sized dish.  

Second attempt large size

The large dish turned out great.  The inner portion was less brown, but set beautifully with a custard like consistency.

Individual Portion

The smaller pudding also turned out great.  If anything, I filled the dish too much which caused the pudding to overflow.

Perfect Consistency

The claufotis is done when it is puffed and brown and a knife plunged into it comes out clean.  

Whilst I enjoyed learning this dish, it is not technically challenging.  It really is a peasant dish, the kind of dish you would make on a lazy winters day.  

Ingredients:

125 g plain flour, sifted
125 g corn flour, sifted
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
200 g caster sugar
250 ml milk
250 ml thickened cream
500 g pitted cherries
sifted icing sugar to top

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.  Grease and flour an ovenproof dish.

Mix the flour and cornflour a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.

Beat the eggs and yolks together and pour them into the well.  Add the sugar and combine all the ingredients slowly.  

Add the milk and cream and mix to form a batter.

Pour the mixture into the dish.  Sprinkle the cherries (dusted with flour) into the batter.

Bake for 40 minutes, until a light golden color.  Allow to cool, then dust with icing sugar before serving.