In my bread quest this month, I could not go past brioche. There are many egg-based breads. Brioche :: Challah :: Panettone :: Stollen :: Pulla. Brioche is probably the richest of them all. In Sherry Yard’s, The Secrets of Baking handbook, she explains the foundation brioche recipe and its versatility to make flavoured brioche, lean and rich brioche, sticky buns, as well as fried brioche in the form of beignets and doughnuts. When flicking through the pages, I stopped on her Gingerbread Brioche recipe. I simply nodded and knew it would be where I would start.
As breads go, the recipe was actually quite simple. Well, if you have a stand mixer, that is. You simply make a sponge (yeast and warm milk added with a little sugar and flour to make a batter) that rests for about half an hour. Then you add that with the rest of the ingredients into a mixer and gently work the dough for a few minutes. Once that is done, it simply needs to proof a couple of times. At the end, you shape into your favoured tin, and voila, you are done!
I only made half the recipe suggested as I was light on brioche à tête molds – I only had two medium sized available. Even when I filled those I had some dough left over. I looked around for some alternative pans / molds that would take the remaining dough. I pulled out some little pudding molds which were perfect for the job. For these mini gingerbread-y versions, I wrapped up the dough around a little square of dark chocolate. What could be better?
The end result was fabulously light, buttery, rich and soft all wrapped up together. The texture just perfect. The only thing I would change next time would be the amount of nutmeg. The flavour was a little overpowering compared with the other spices included. When I was adding the spices I did pause when reading the quantity of nutmeg (thinking it was too much), but shrugged, figured Sherry knows best, and continued on. I would probably reduce it by half or even a quarter next time. But I have retained the original quantity in the recipe below, in case you are a nutmeg nut!
Sherry makes this bread specifically for French toast. She serves it with orange butter and walnut-maple syrup. After tasting the bread, I think she is on a winning combination.
{ Gingerbread Brioche }
* Ingredients *
Sponge:
½ cup whole milk at room temperature (see note)
1 tbsp dry active yeast
2 tbsp sugar
½ cup bread or all purpose flour
Dough:
1/3 cup unsulfured black-strap molasses (see note)
3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground cloves
4 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
6 large eggs, slightly beaten
9 ounces unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 large egg
* Directions *
Make the sponge. Combine milk and yeast in the mixing bowl of a standing mixer. Whisk and let sit for 5 minutes. Add flour and sugar, mix to form a thick batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30-45 minutes, until bubbles form.
Add the molasses, brown sugar, spice, flour, and salt to the sponge. Add the eggs. Beat with the paddle attachment on low speed for 2 minutes, until the eggs are absorbed. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 5 minutes. Hold the mixer when necessary.
Turn the machine down to medium low speed and add the butter, 2 tbsp at a time. Knead for another 5 minutes, until the dough is shiny. Scrape out the dough and clean and lightly oil the bowl. Don’t worry if the dough is difficult to handle. Place the dough back in the bowl then turn it over so that the top is oiled. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours, until doubled. When dough is has doubled in volume, punch it down by folding it two or three times. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
After the second rise, the dough is ready to be shaped. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. For brioche à tête generously butter two 8 inch brioche molds and put them on a baking sheet. Punch the dough down again and transfer it to a work surface. Set aside the equivalent of about 1 cup of dough, and divide the rest into two portions. Firmly roll each portion of dough on the table in a circular motion with the palm of your hand to form a smooth ball. Place into each mold.
With the reserved dough, divide in half and roll into a bowling pin shape. Make an indention in the centre of the larger ball, and place the small pin into the centre of the brioche. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 400F or 200C. Lightly whisk the egg and gently brush the surface of the dough. Bake for 10 minutes and reduce heat to 350F or 180C. Bake for another 30 minutes depending on the size of your molds. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
{ A few notes … }
1. For the milk, I warmed mine ever so slightly to about 80 – 90 F.
2. I have had trouble finding unsulfured molasses in Australia. As a substitute, I used dark treacle. I use treacle for all my gingerbread baking and it works a treat.
3. Tête means head, as you can see why!
April 19, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Hi Julia,
I just found your lovely site today on Dorie Greenspan’s Blog.
Re: ‘Scrape a Bowl’. Just to let you know they are $AU 49.95 and available via order through Matchbox. Melbourne. You may be able to order them directly from http://www.petermcinnes.com.au, the KA distributore in Australia and New Zealand – 1800990990 or 02 49026500. I ordered mine on Friday and I will have to wait for up to 4 weeks. Can’t wait to test drive it.
Regards,
Corry
April 20, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Corry – you are a star. Thanks. I’ll definitely check them out. I actually have something else already on order from Peter McInnes. You’ll have to let me know how your test drive goes.
burpexcuzme – thanks. It was pretty tasty. 🙂
Elra – have you made brioche before? I’m still thinking about your glorious croissants…..
Y – get out? Well, I think you’ll have to give this a go. With your own spin, of course!!! 😉
April 19, 2009 at 11:16 pm
wow. I’ve never heard of gingerbread brioche, but I’m already drooling.
April 20, 2009 at 2:23 am
These are beautiful, look so delicious too.
Cheers,
elra
April 20, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Gingerbread AND brioche? Get outta here! Two of my favourite things in one!
April 20, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Compliments on your lovely blog. You write so well and you are such an inspiration – so much so that I’ve ordered Sherry’s book today. I hadn’t heard of her before and I have over 150 recent cookbooks.
Your photography is great as well. Do you mind if I ask what camera do you use?
Thanks, Corry
April 20, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Corry, thank you so much. That is such a lovely compliment. I really enjoying sharing my baking journey so it is great to hear. 🙂
I do not think you will be disappointed with Sherry’s book. She now has two published, I believe. I still don’t have the second, but will get it in my next Amazon purchase. I have made a few recipes from it so far. In addition to the Brioche, I have made the Profiteroles and Chocolate Madeleines. Sherry is such an accomplished Pastry Chef but she explains things so simply it is like she has stripped back all her training to the essentials so a layperson can understand. You will have to let me know what you try from the book. I am thinking of having a ‘pastry month’ shortly so will definitely be referencing it again soon.
I use a Nikon D40. Right now, I only have the standard kit len that it came with. I am just finding my feet with it actually and will probably invest in another lens at some point once soon. For now, I am just having fun playing around with the features.
April 21, 2009 at 5:51 am
What beautiful photos, and I can just imagine how wonderful that buttery gingerbread brioche would taste.
April 23, 2009 at 10:50 am
Wow the ones with chocolate oozing out of the center look amazing! I’m such a sucker for anything with chocolate in it. I’d probably eat old bootleather if it was wrapped around some good chocolate.
May 6, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Just gorgeous these photos. You are a truly talented food stylist. How on earth could you make me crave this bread – I hate gingerbread ! 😉