brioche: a pastry lover's best friend

Posted by Lynsie Watkins Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:47:00 GMT

For those of you who are feeling maybe more than a little timid at trying to make pastry at home-this is the most perfect place for you to start. Brioche really takes on a life of its own. It longs for solitude. It is very patient and understanding. Perhaps not the perfect companion-but a great friend for the pastry novice!

I make this one in my shop, and instead of forming the dough into rolls or loaves, I create cinnamon buns out of it, which I'll give you the recipe to as well! Here we go...

Before you do anything, walk straight to the fridge and remove 2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, making sure to place them on your counter top away from spouses, children, and small curious cats with mammoth appetites and an obscene ability at smelling dairy product anywhere. Your butter must sit out undisturbed for at least one hour. When it's ready to use, you want it pliable and only slightly cool/warm, not hot and melting. If it does begin to melt, throw it in the freezer for 5 minutes while you prepare your other ingredients.

Personally, I like to cube my butter into walnut-sized pieces immediately after pulling it from the fridge. This helps the warming process speed up and also ensures uniformity. Don't wait until the butter has warmed to room temp to cut it, as you will have a rather large, buttery mess on your hands.

While your butter is warming, read a little of your favorite book...and then prepare the rest of your ingredients. You will need:

3 cups flour (unbleached, pastry or all purpose)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (fine)

2 1/4 teaspoons active yeast (one packet is fine)

1/4 cup warm whole milk (110 degrees)

3 tablespoons sugar (I use organic cane sugar)

5 large local eggs (the local eggs lend a rich golden color to the dough)

Warm the milk over low heat until it registers 108 degrees, then remove it from heat, it will rise the rest of the way. Add the yeast and stir. Then add the sugar, stir, and allow the yeast to dissolve and prove (5-10 minutes). In the meantime, combine your flour and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. You can (of course) try this recipe by hand, but for a new pastry chef, it's tough because the dough is so sticky. I strongly suggest using your mixer or borrowing a friend's.

Once the yeast is ready, pour it over the flour mixture. Add two eggs and mix until combined. Leaving the mixer on medium speed, continue adding one egg at a time until all are incorporated. Once all eggs have been added, mix for 5 minutes on medium speed.

Next, if your butter feels ready, turn the mixer on the same speed and begin to drop in individual pieces, one at a time. Watch the butter spread throughout the dough in streaks until you can no longer spot it, then add more. (If you add too much at one time...for all of you impatient pastry chefs-myself included-the butter will be unable to be absorbed into the dough, and you will have to turn off the mixer and incorporate the butter by hand with a spatula, a dirty ordeal!

Once all your butter has been added, lift the dough hook out of the dough and run a spatula through it. You're on the lookout for butter clumps, which often turn up on the sides or at the bottom of your bowl. If you find them, use your spatula to mix them in by rubbing the lumps into the dough. Drop your dough hook back down and cover your dough loosely with a towel or plastic cover. Go run an errand for an hour and a half.

Come back and your dough should have doubled in size. Simply remove your towel, turn on the mixer for 30 seconds, and then dump out your dough into a 2 quart clear container with a lid that latches. If you can't find a lid that latches, use what you can but remember to place a brick or other very heavy item over your dough. Remember-this dough has a mind of it's own...and it can be very, very strong. Place your dough in the fridge, and leave it there overnight. It will be ready to be worked in the morning or afternoon, depending on when you have time.

Next, remove your sticky dough from its container and place it on a work surface that is highly floured. (Place one stick of unsalted butter in a saucepan and allow it to melt as you roll out the dough.) Form your dough ball into a rectangle with two long sides and two short sides. Begin to roll it out briskly. Your end dimensions should be a rectangle measuring 24 inches by 18 inches. (Long side top and bottom, short side left and right.)

With a pastry brush (or unused paint brush), spread out half the butter over the entire rectangle, making especially sure to cover the outskirts and corners. Sprinkle a mixture of 2 cups sugar, 4 tablespoons cinnamon over the entire rectangle EXCEPT the top, long side, which needs an inch of clear space for later. Next, dip the pastry brush into the butter and drizzle butter over the entire surface of the dough. You don't need to cover every bit of surface, just give it a light speckling. What this does is temporarily liquify the sugar mixture so that it doesn't dump out when you roll it up. Next, fold in the left and right sides and bottom side of the dough one inch so that the sugar mix is secured inside.

Now for the fun part...beginning at the bottom, roll the dough up towards the open flap at the top. I usually start in the center and work outwards. Once you've almost reached the top, brush the open top flap with butter one more time, and gently pull the flap out and over the log of dough you've created. Once the flap is secure and stuck to the log, flour your surface and roll the log, flap side down, onto the floured part. Using a serrated knife, make a cut in the middle of the log. Then cut each section in half, and then in half again. You should have 8 pieces total.

One at a time, remove each cut piece, place it flat, spiral side down and with a floured hand, pat each round down gently. Place each finished roll onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Once all are sitting pretty on your pan, give them one last final brush of butter on top. The helps seal them, so that when they are baked they will stay together and not spread out too much. (It also creates a very nice butter-sugar sauce.) You can place all the buns in the freezer, and once firm, you can bag them and store them that way. If you want once now-who can blame you?, just place on a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to proof (or expand) slightly while the oven is preheated to 350 degrees. For future baking, remove the required number of buns the night before and place in the fridge to defrost. An hour before baking, remove them from the fridge and allow to proof. Bake as usual.

For a quick icing, whisk 1 cup powdered sugar with a few tablespoons milk.

If this, or any of my recipes, seem a little overwhelming, or if you just want to learn more, I'll be offering cooking classes at my shop & kitchen beginning in May 2008. I'll teach everything from pastry to bread to ice cream to icing!