Mini Brioche

I love shopping. And like most women, while I do enjoy shopping for shoes, bags and clothes, it really isn't an that important to me. Well, okay, that's not entirely true. I admit have way too many shoes. Actually, let me rephrase that - I HAD way too many pairs of shoes. Just last week, I gave away more than 30 pairs. I figured I wear only about 5 pairs regularly, and I felt good about clearing out all that storage space. But as I said, shopping for clothes and accessories is not really an obsession for me. It's not hard for me to walk past a store that's having a huge shoe sale. But it is REALLY hard for me to walk past a book sale! Oh SO hard!

And not too long ago, I gave in to the temptation and walked into a book sale. It was a huge room full of second-hand books at throwaway prices! I was like a kid in a candy store. Actually, MY kid would be happier in a fruit store, but that's not really relevant, is it? So, getting back to the sale. I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through the hundreds of books (though they were a little dusty) and I found some real gems. One of the books I was most excited about was a lovely Julia Child cookbook that I got for a steal! You wouldn't believe me if I told you how cheap it was!

What was really funny, was that while I was reading through the recipe, I could hear Julia Child's voice reading it out in my head. Creepy, no? I think I have watched way too much of her show! LOL!

This is the first recipe that I made from this book, and it turned out awesome! Don't be fooled by the name of this recipe. It may be a 'basic' brioche recipe, but it is truly delicious! I have posted it with some minor modifications I made. I made only half the recipe, and I got 6 regular mini brioche buns, and 1 medium sized loaf topped with white poppy seeds. I am sure with this recipe, you can do a lot of things. Stuffed buns, rolls, knots, twists, herbed loaves - whatever you can imagine! I hope you try this recipe.

Basic Brioche 
(adapted from a Julia Child recipe)
Ingredients
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup whole milk
3 1/2 level cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
4 large eggs

Method
1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl, and set aside until frothy and creamy.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter along with the milk. Set this aside.
3. In a large bowl or the bowl of your mixer, combine 2 1/2 cups of flour, the salt, the sugar and the eggs. Beat for about a minute until combined.
4. Pour in the warm butter and milk mixture, and continue beating for another 3 minutes.
5. Touch the sides of the bowl to make sure the mixture is not too hot before adding the yeast. The mixture should be barely warm.
6. Mix for another 2-3 minutes until well combined.
7. Add the remaining flour, a little at a time, and continue mixing. If your dough is still too sticky, add more flour, a little at a time. I didn't need to add any more flour. It was just perfect.
8. Keep the mixer running until the dough is smooth, elastic and springy. I kneaded the dough for about 20 minutes with in my mixer.
9. Form the dough into a smooth bowl, and transfer to a clean, greased bowl. Cover with greased clingwrap and a tea towel.
10. Set in a warm place until tripled in volume. This took about 2 1/2 hours for me. If you find your dough is rising too fast, and this can happen when it's too hot, place the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes every now and then during the rising time.
11. After 2 1/2 hours, knock down the dough and knead briefly.
12. Shape as desired, and set aside to rise again. I made 6 mini brioches in my silicone muffin tray, and 1 loaf of bread topped with white poppy seeds. Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes.
13. Brush the top with a basic egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water), and bake at 400 until the crust is golden brown and the base sounds hollow when knocked. (The mini brioches I made took about 20 minutes, and the loaf took about 30.)

We ate this for dinner within a couple of hours of baking it. I really thought I would have some bread over for the next morning so I could make some cinnamon French toast, but it was all gone in a jiffy. I had family over, and I guess it is a good sign when something disappears so quick! It was buttery, rich, flavorful and even my husband who isn't a big fan of bread (can you believe that?!), asked for more! The crust was crisp, and the inside was soft and feathery.

I made a hearty Beef and vegetable stew, and it was really good with the freshly baked Brioche. I wish I had taken pictures of the stew, because it turned out great! I really ought to be more disciplined with taking photographs. I made some really yummy Crunchy Top Lime Muffins earlier this week, to take on our Mini-Vacation, but again - no pictures! I will get down to making both these dishes again soon, and I will post the recipes.

For now, I hope you enjoy Julia's Brioche.