Brioche à tête

Steps

before starting

• The day before, get the butter out of the refrigerator and use it very soft the next day

for the dough

• n a bowl, stir together the flour and the salt with a whisk
• Break-up the yeast with your fingers
• Turn the heat on and heat the milk at 38°C
• Stir in together the yeast and the milk with the help of a whisk
• In a big bowl, start beating the eggs in an omelet with a whisk
• Add the flour slowly by batches and keep stirring at first with the whisk and then by using a hand mixer with the dough accessory on. At the end you might need to knead the dough a little bit with your hands to help it a little bit.
• Add slowly and by batches the mix milk-yeast and keep beating with the dough accessory until the milk is absorbed after each addition
• Add the butter little by little and keep beating after each addition until each piece of butter is absorbed by the dough
• Keep beating for another 10’ and keep turning the hand mixer with the dough accessory
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 2h in a warm and dry place. The dough will double in size so if your bowl is not big enough you should spread some oil (with no flavor) onto a piece of plastic wrap and place it on the dough.
• After the 2h have passed, remove the plastic wrap and use your hands to rise the dough high above the bowl and let it fall into the bowl again two or three times. Don’t be scared if the dough is rather soft and stick to your hands, it normal!
• Place again some plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for a night
• The next day, get the dough out of the refrigerator
• Spread some butter to your molds (*)
• Spread some flour on the working bench
• Form a big “sausage” of about 24cm long, and if the dough is sticking to your hands, spread some flour on it and onto your hands but be careful to remove the exceedance of flour
• Slice the “sausage” in two and then in two again and again until you have 8 pieces of dough
• Take a piece of dough and cut ¼ of it
• With the remaining ¾ of the dough, form a ball and place it into the mold
• Use your thumb or your index to create a hole in the middle, without touching the bottom of the mold, and if the dough sticks a bit to your fingers, don’t worry, just put them in a bit of flour
• Take the ¼ of the dough and form a small ball this time
• Place the small ball into the hole of the dough in the mold
• Repeat the same thing for the remaining 7 pieces of dough
• In a bowl, beat together, the milk and the egg to form the egg-wash
• Use a brush and very carefully brush the mini brioche on top with the egg-wash
• With a scissors, cut the big ball all around ~5 times, dip the scissors into cold water with ice cubes at each time
• Cut a piece of plastic wrap, big enough to cover the 8 molds
• With the brush, spread a bit of oil (without any flavor) all over it
• Place the brioche in a tray going into the oven
• Cover the brioches with the plastic wrap (the side with the oil should face the molds)
• Let them rest until the double in size (~40’)
• Preheat the oven at 180°C
• Place the brioche inside and bake for 15’
• It’s ready and so good!
• Let them cool a little bit and then enjoy!
• Enjoy!

Inspiration

It’s funny to use an American recipe to make brioche while in France! This recipe comes from Martha Stewart and I selected it because the Danish I made based on her recipe was really good, so I trust her! You can find the recipe in this video.

There will be other occasions to make brioche, with French recipes or even Greek ones! I promise! It’s important to make different brioches and chose the one you like! This version is not exactly like the version I was eating as a child in Greece (and I adored) but it’s not very far, at least when it comes to texture! Now it’s your turn because finally it’s not that difficult to make brioche at home even when we don’t have a stand mixer! Give it a try :-) 

(*) if you do not have the molds to make mini-brioche,you can use some paper muffin molds by taking 2-3 at a time, just to create some more solid borders!