71. Brioche is a beautiful, delicious, rich French bread. This bread is made in as many different shapes, as bakers who make it. But the classic brioche is baked in a fluted pan and finished off with a "knot" on top of the loaf.
I first became acquainted with brioche when my daughter had a project in French class...to bring in a French "food item" for a grade. Into my cookbooks I dove head first and found "Brioche". It was a great challenge for us and of course something we love to do...bake. But to find an authentic brioche baking pan was the next problem. I searched many cooking supply stores and finally found one at "The Kitchen Shoppe, Inc." in Carlisle, PA. What a wonderful store!!! Since then, I have purchased various sizes of brioche baking pans...they are so beautiful!
A blog that I read, "Tongue in Cheek" was having a give-away of authentic bakery brioche pans from France...with a French Tin Giveaway...but I wasn't one of the winners...oh well! Maybe next time.
The French Teacher enjoyed the bread so much she decided to have "French Food Day" two months later. I experimented with several different recipes. The most memorable one was when the recipe suggested you make the dough the night before, shape it and place it in the refrigerator overnight, then take it out and let the dough rise. In the morning, the dough was bursting! I turned on the oven, and baked the bread. It looked beautiful. I sent it with my daughter to school. When she got home I asked how the brioche was...her expression was priceless. She told me when they went to cut into the bread it was raw dough in the center! I learned that day not to "try out" a recipe when you are sharing it.
I made some brioche for Easter and it was delicious!
My dough turned out great...it rose so high it pushed the lid of the bread machine open.
The bread machine does such a beautiful job.
Transfer the dough to a bowl and then divided it between 6 pans
The key to the knot attaching to the roll is to form a well in the dough.
Then roll the small piece of dough into a lightbulb shape.
Brush the dough with egg wash after it is done baking and then return
the bread back into the oven for 5 more minutes.
It was delicious!!! You can Google "Brioche" and find many recipes.
"Bread is the warmest, kindest of all words.
Write it always with a capital letter, like your own name."
~ from a café sign
~ from a café sign
