Brioche: BBA Challenge

For Day 4 of the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, we made brioche. Brioche is an enriched bread made with a good number of eggs and lots of butter. There are three different versions of brioche to choose from in the book depending on the amount of butter to flour ratio you use. It seems that a lot of the other bakers in the challenge are making the rich man's or middle class version so I chose to make the poor man's version. Somebody needs to look out for the little guy...might as well be me. Plus, this version uses less butter and eggs than the other two versions so it's a more practical bread in my opinion. It's still very tasty and rich but not overly so.



I've made the Rich Man's Brioche before from the recipe in Peter Reinharts' Crust and Crumb. If you would like to see the results, check out this blog. I actually think I like the poor man's version better. I'll have to try the middle class version next time so I can compare all three.

Here is an interesting account of Brioche found on ---Food Timeline, June 7, 2009.

"Brioches originated as soft and light white loaves, enriched with butter and eggs, much much less so than those we know today. They were baked without moulds. Looking at Chardin's beautiful paintings of brioches you can see that he has quite clearly defined the notches round the base of his cottage-loaf-shaped confections, which are handsome and tall but not tidy like a moulded cake. So I think that in the eighteenth century, and at the time of that poor, foolish Marie Antoinette is supposed to have said, when told that the people of Paris were rioting for bread, qu'ils manget de al brioche', the composition of the cake must have been simply that of an enriched bread much like that of our own Bath buns and Sally Lunns, so made at that period without benefit of moulds or tins, although paper bands were sometimes wrapped round them for baking. Certainly it would not be possible to bake today's liquid brioche mixture or crust for a fillet of beef or a large sausage then the brioche mixture is made with fewer eggs and less butter, or it would be impossible to handle." ---English Bread and Yeast Cookery, Elizabeth David [Penguin:Middlesex] 1977 (p. 497)

According to Mr. Reinhart, there are countless formula variations for this bread. Some versions are immediately fermented and then shaped and baked, while some require overnight chilling. The poor man's version requires a sponge, but no overnight chilling. It's a very easy dough to work with.

I like the flour to butter ratio in this version. The other versions are almost too buttery for me. Mostly because when I consider all that butter, I think about what it would do to my arteries. However, anyway you choose to make it, this is a very delicious bread.

The poor man's version can be made in one day and the dough doesn't require refrigeration before shaping. A definite plus in my book!

Let's get baking!

Poor Man's Brioche
Days to Make: 1

If you're following along with us, turn to page 123 in the Bread Baker's Apprentice to locate the recipe and list of ingredients. Peter Reinhart gives a very interesting account on the history of this bread. You can read his account in the book.

Making the sponge

Stir together the flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the milk until all the flour has been hydrated.





Cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 30 to 45 minutes.

Fermented dough after about an hour.

Making the dough

Add the eggs to the sponge and whisk until smooth.






In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the mixture to the sponge and eggs and stir until all ingredients are hydrated and evenly distributed.






Let this mixture rest for 5 minutes to develop the gluten before you add the butter.



Gradually work in the butter (about one-quarter at a time) using a large spoon. Wait until each addition of butter is full mixed before adding more. I mixed the dough by hand and the spoon wasn't getting it so I used my hands. It was squishy working with the butter, but using my hands helped distribute it evenly. Whatever works! Right?





Kneading the dough

Transfer the dough to the counter and knead it about 10 minutes. Add more flour in small amounts if necessary. I had to add a little bit of flour a couple of times but not too much!





Knead until the dough is very smooth and soft, but not too sticky to handle.



First Rise

Oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil



and cover with plastic wrap. Ferment for about 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size.





Shaping the Brioche

Follow the instructions on p. 126 to shape the brioche. I decided to make one large fluted brioche and one sandwich loaf.

Here is how I shaped the brioche to go into the fluted mold. Be sure to only fill the molds 2/3 full.








Then, I shaped the sandwich loaf.











Second Rise

Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap.



Then proof the dough until it almost fills the mold or loaf pans (about 2 hours or so).








At this point, you'll gently brush the top of the loaves with egg wash. Create the egg wash by whisking an egg until it is frothy. Very cool!





Then, cover and continue proofing the loaves for another 15 to 30 minutes, or until the dough fills the molds or pans. It took about 15 minutes for my dough to fill the pans.



Remove the plastic wrap once the loaves have risen enough.





Baking the Brioche

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the loaves for 35 to 50 minutes. The bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom and be golden brown.



Remove the brioches from the pans as soon as they come out of the oven. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before serving.

I decided to freeze the fluted brioche. We sliced the sandwich loaf. In fact, it's almost gone.

We had our slices toasted with butter and cinnamon sugar. Boy was it good! My taste tester says it tastes like a croissant. I'm sure it would also taste good toasted with jam.



Thanks for joining me this week in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge. Next time, we're making Casatiello.


Happy Baking!
Cathy