Marmalade and raisin brioche - much better than a certain pie

Even though I wasn’t happy with the winner of “The Great British Bake Off” I did have lots of fun watching the show – therefore, after Tania and Ana told me about the American version of the show I watched the first episode (which was focused on pies) and now I don’t feel like watching it anymore. :S

Mary Berry is not in the show, the host is annoying and the contestants aren’t interesting at all. And after a pie made with peanut butter, chocolate and BACON ranked so well among the other pies I thought I should quit the show - if not wanting bacon mixed with chocolate makes me a conservative person so be it. I found that pie really disgusting, but Paul Hollywood adored it – I prefer something more normal and, to me, far tastier: his wonderful brioche, the one I have made several times already, this time filled with marmalade and raisins.

Marmalade and raisin brioche
slightly adapted from the excellent How to Bake (I bought mine here)

Brioche:
500g strong white bread flour + extra for dusting (I used all purpose flour)
½ teaspoon table salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
10g dried yeast
140ml whole milk, warm
5 large eggs
250g unsalted butter, very soft

Filling:
200g marmalade
½ cup golden raisins

Put the flour into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt and sugar to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the milk and eggs and mix on a slow speed for 2 minutes, then on a medium speed for a further 6–8 minutes, until you have a soft, glossy, elastic dough. Add the softened butter and continue to mix for a further 4–5 minutes, scraping down the bowl periodically to ensure that the butter is thoroughly incorporated. The dough should be very soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 7 hours, until it is firm and you are able to shape it.
Butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan.
Take your brioche dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead 3-4 four times, then roll it out onto a 35x20cm (14x8in) rectangle. Spread the marmalade evenly on top of the dough and sprinkle the raisins on top. Roll it like a cylinder, beginning with the longer side. Cut into 9 slices then arrange them about 2.5cm (1in) apart onto the prepared pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to prove for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
When the brioche is proved, bake for 20-25 minutes or until brioche is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 9

Almond filled brioche with plum compote + "House of Cards"

After I finished watching the fourth season of “Breaking Bad” – I hope season 5 arrives soon here in Brazil – I immediately began watching “House of Cards”: I’d been wanting to watch the series ever since I first read that David Fincher was developing something for TV – I’m a huge fan and will watch anything this guy makes.

As usual, Fincher doesn’t disappoint: the series is fantastic – script, music, and the cast, everything in perfect tune. All the actors are giving excellent performances, but Kevin Spacey is the soul of the series – I might be biased because he’s one of my all time favorite actors and is part of movies I deeply love, but to me he’s kicking some serious ass as Frank Underwood, which might be one of the best characters ever played.

If the world were a fair place there would be 10 Kevin Spacey or 10 Bryan Cranston for each Robert Pattinson out there. :D

And if the world were really a fair place I would be able to eat brioche for breakfast every day, especially this almond filled version, very tender and so delicious, with a spoonful of homemade plum compote. Yum. :)

Almond filled brioche
adapted from two wonderful books: How to Bake and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Brioche:
500g strong white bread flour + extra for dusting (I used all purpose flour)
½ teaspoon table salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
10g dried yeast
140ml whole milk, warm
5 medium eggs*
250g unsalted butter, very soft

Filling:
4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup almond paste – I used homemade, recipe here
¼ cup (35g) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
¼ teaspoon orange flower water (optional)

Put the flour into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt and sugar to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the milk and eggs and mix on a slow speed for 2 minutes, then on a medium speed for a further 6–8 minutes, until you have a soft, glossy, elastic dough. Add the softened butter and continue to mix for a further 4–5 minutes, scraping down the bowl periodically to ensure that the butter is thoroughly incorporated. The dough should be very soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 7 hours, until it is firm and you are able to shape it. In the meantime, make the filling: place the butter, almond paste, flour, sugar, egg, vanilla, almond extract and orange flower water in a food processor and process until smooth.
Butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan.
Take your brioche dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead 3-4 four times, then roll it out onto a 35x20cm (14x8in) rectangle. Spread the almond filling evenly on top of the dough, then roll it like a cylinder, beginning with the longer side. Cut into 9 slices then arrange them about 2.5cm (1in) apart onto the prepared pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to prove for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
When the brioche is proved, bake for 20-25 minutes or until brioche is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* I only had large eggs at home, so I used 4; noticing that the dough was a bit dry, I added the 5th egg

Makes 9

Plum compote
own creation

250g plums, halved, stones removed, each half sliced into quarters
3 tablespoons granulated sugar - my plums were really sour; adjust the amount of sugar depending on the plums you have on hand
½ tablespoon lemon juice
pinch ground cinnamon
1 ½ tablespoons water

Place the plums, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until plums are tender and juicy. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Serves 2-4

Lemon poppy seed brioche and learning from previous recipes

Cooking and baking to me, besides being loads of fun, are definitely a learning process – I think that certain recipes go beyond the deliciousness of their final products: they teach you something.

I was making these lemon brioches and after the dough had proved for the first time it was too sticky and too soft to be shaped. That was when I remembered Paul Hollywood’s brioche recipe, in which the dough has to be refrigerated in order to be firm enough to be shaped into buns, and that’s what I did – it worked perfectly.
These brioches aren’t very sweet and to me that makes them perfect to be slathered with butter or jam while still warm, and let me tell you: these will probably disappear in a matter of moments. :)

Lemon poppy seed brioche
slightly adapted from the always lovely and delicious Delicious - Australia

¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm whole milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (62g) granulated sugar
2 cups + 1 tablespoon (300g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
3 eggs
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
160g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg, extra, for brushing the brioche

Combine milk, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes or until mixture starts to foam. Add remaining sugar, flour and salt to the yeast mixture and beat for about 6 minutes on medium speed or until a rough dough forms (my dough was too dry, so I added 1/3 cup of warm milk). Add the 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add zest, vanilla and poppy seeds, and beat to combine. Gradually add butter, beating after each addition. Continue beating on medium speed for about 8 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic – it will be very soft. Transfer to a lightly buttered large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave for 1 hour or until doubled in size, then refrigerate for 4-5 hours (otherwise the dough will be too soft to be shaped).
Generously butter a 12-cup muffin pan (1/3-cup capacity cavities). Remove dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead 3-4 times, then divide into 12 balls. Divide each ball into 3 smaller balls. Place 3 small balls in each muffin hole, loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave for 40 minutes or until doubled in size.
In the meantime, preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly whisk the egg with a fork and brush the top of each brioche with it. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature (these reheat really well).

Makes 12

Brioche with brie and some Oscar ranting

The Oscar nominations were announced yesterday and, as usual, there’s something really wrong with them: Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the most talented actors I’ve seen onscreen got ignored once again, since the Academy preferred to pull a Judi Dench circa 1999 and nominate Alan Arkin instead of Leo – don’t get me wrong, I loved “Argo” but I don’t even have to watch “Django Unchained” (it opens here on the 18th) to know that DiCaprio’s performance is a deeper and better one than Arkin’s – and to comment on movies I have seen Javier Bardem’s 007 villain deserves that Best Supporting Actor spot infinitely more than Arkin.

Well, me and my Oscar ranting – that will never change. :) There’s something I could never complain about, though: Paul Hollywood’s recipes – they’re all fabulous. This brioche is so tender and delicious you wouldn’t believe it – and don’t worry if you don’t have brie or any other cheese around to stuff the buns with: this brioche is so fantastic it’s worth making it plain – and you can always spread some jam on it while still warm from the oven, you know. :)

Brioche with brie
slightly adapted from the absolutely wonderful How to Bake (I bought mine here)

500g strong white bread flour + extra for dusting (I used all purpose flour)
1 ¼ teaspoons table salt
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
10g dried yeast
140ml whole milk, warm
5 medium eggs*
250g unsalted butter, very soft
250g brie, cut into 12 equal pieces
1 egg, extra, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing

Put the flour into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt and sugar to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the milk and eggs and mix on a slow speed for 2 minutes, then on a medium speed for a further 6–8 minutes, until you have a soft, glossy, elastic dough. Add the softened butter and continue to mix for a further 4–5 minutes, scraping down the bowl periodically to ensure that the butter is thoroughly incorporated. The dough should be very soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 7 hours, until it is firm and you are able to shape it.
Line a very large baking sheet with foil.
Take your brioche dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead 3-4 four times, then divide it into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball by placing it into a cage formed by your hand and the table and moving your hand around in a circular motion, rotating the ball rapidly. Make an indentation in each ball and insert a piece of brie, then bring the edges of dough around the cheese to enclose it. Roll the ball in your hand to seal it – try to do the whole process quickly because once the dough starts to come to room temperature it gets really sticky.
Place the balls onto the prepared sheet leaving some room between them for rising. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to prove for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
When the brioche is proved, brush the buns with the beaten egg and bake for 15-20 minutes or until brioche is golden brown. Serve warm.

* I only had large eggs at home, so I used 4; noticing that the dough was a bit dry, I added the 5th egg

Makes 12

Lemon brioche rose cake

One of my ideas for the weekend was to bake bread, and I after the huge hit I’d had with his passion fruit cake I wanted to make Dan Lepard’s sticky toffee apple buns; unfortunately, all the apples in my fridge disappeared quite mysteriously, and I had no fruit left to bake with, except for a bag of lemons.

You know what they sat, when life gives you lemons make delicious and super tender brioche with them. :D

Lemon brioche rose cake
from the beautiful Dolci: Italy's Sweets

Dough:
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
2 ¼ teaspoons (7g) dry yeast
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling:
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For brushing and sprinkling:
1 large egg white, lightly beaten with a fork
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Make the dough: warm ¼ cup (60ml) of the milk and transfer to a large bowl. Add the yeast and mix with a fork. Set aside until it bubbles. Stir in 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (55g) of the flour, stirring until a dough forms, and adding a few drops of milk if the mixture is too dry. Knead the dough inside the bowl until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
To the dough, add the remaining flour, the remaining ½ cup (120ml) of milk, the egg yolks, the sugar, the oil and salt. Stir until a dough forms, then knead until smooth (I used the Kitchen Aid for that). Set the dough aside while you make the filling. Lightly butter and flour a 23cm (9in) round cake pan.
Make the filling: in an electric mixer, beat together the butter, the granulated sugar, the lemon zest and the cinnamon until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 30x45cm (12x18in) rectangle. Spread the filling evenly over the dough all the way to the edges, leaving a 2.5cm (1in) strip uncovered at the long end. Gently roll the dough, starting at the long end of the rectangle closest to you, forming a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut into 8 thick slices. Place them cut side down in the prepared pan, about 1cm (½in) in apart. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for about 1 hour or until risen.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Brush the cake with the egg white and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden. Cool in the pan over a wire rack.

Makes 8

Pecan-coconut bread pudding - new things can be really good

I usually choose the movies I watch by director: some I love, others I avoid like the plague. If I know nothing about the director I try to find other good reasons to watch the movie (yes, I am sort of neurotic about my movie choices, bear with me). :)
Take Marc Webb, for instance: I had never heard of him until I saw the trailer for "500 Days Of Summer"; then I thought: the trailer was beautiful, the cast was great and the soundtrack amazing - I ended up loving the movie (one of the best I watched in 2009).

Now, take this dessert: I’d never heard of a pecan coconut bread pudding in my life – I did not even recall seeing this recipe when I bought the book, years ago. But then I thought: I am a bread pudding convert (thanks to Nigella and Donna Hay), love both pecans and coconut and do not mind a little chocolate on the side. So I gave it a try. And ended up eating the two bowls you see on the photo while watching TV. ;)

Pecan-coconut bread pudding
from a great book I should use more often: The All-American Dessert Book

2 cups cubed French or Italian bread, including crust, lightly toasted in the oven – I used brioche
½ cup (50g) shredded sweetened coconut
1/3 cup (37g) coarsely chopped pecans
2 large eggs
scant 1/3 cup (55g) packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (45g) dark chocolate chips
heavy cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter four 1 cup (240ml) capacity ovenproof ramekins. Divide the bread cubes equally among them.
Spread the coconut and pecans in a large baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring every 3 minutes, until the pecans are fragrant and the coconut is golden, 5-6 minutes. Set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/325°F.
In a medium bowl, using a fork, beat the eggs until frothy and smooth. Add the brown sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Stir in the milk, cream and vanilla until well blended. Sprinkle half of the pecans and coconut, with the chocolate chips, over the bread. Pour the egg mixture on top. Lay a sheet of baking paper over the top of the ramekins and press down to keep the bread submerged. Let stand for 10 minutes. Peel off the paper. Evenly sprinkle the remaining pecans and coconut over each ramekin.
Place the ramekins in a large roasting pan and place it on the oven rack. Add enough boiling water to the pan to come halfway the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the pudding feels set in the center when lightly tapped and is nicely browned on top, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and transfer the ramekins to a wire rack. Let cool for 5 minutes then serve with cream, if desired.

Serves 4

Sugared apple galette

A long time ago I posted a list of my top 5 favorite songs. I had a hard time choosing them – one huge problem was picking only one song by The Smiths. Other songs I deeply love were left out of the list but that’s OK – I knew I would regret it minutes after writing it. :D

There’s one song, though, that could not be included on that list – it’s so beautiful, perfect and magical that it belongs in the Music Olympus and should never be mixed with nor compared to with other songs. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is simply the best song ever created. Period.

The same happens with my favorite recipe websites – they are wonderful and I adore them all, but Australian Gourmet Traveller is my #1. It’s where I got this recipe from.

Sugared apple galette
slightly adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Brioche base:
2 ¼ teaspoons (1 envelope/7g) dried yeast
30g caster sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) lukewarm milk
330g plain flour
finely grated zest of 2 limes
1 egg and 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten together, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brandy
120g unsalted butter, softened

Sugar apple top:
80g Greek-style thick yogurt
60g unsalted butter, stored in the freezer for ½ hour
80g caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lime
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and deseeded, very thinly sliced

For dusting:
pure icing sugar

For brioche base, combine yeast, a pinch of the caster sugar and warm milk in a bowl, stir to dissolve yeast, then set aside in a warm place until foamy (2-3 minutes). Meanwhile, combine flour, lime zest and remaining sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix to combine. With mixer on low speed, add yeast mixture, egg mixture and brandy and mix to combine. Add butter a little at a time and beat until smooth and glossy (4-5 minutes).

Transfer to a buttered bowl, turn to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Stand in a warm place until double in size (1½-2 hours).
Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 30cm-diameter circle. Line a buttered 27cm-diameter fluted tart pan* with the dough, rolling edges in and pleating as you go, and prick within border with a fork.
For sugar apple top, spread yogurt over brioche dough within border. Coarsely grate butter and scatter two thirds over yogurt. Combine sugar and lime zest in a small bowl, scatter two thirds of the sugar mixture over butter. Layer apple over sugar mixture, overlapping slices, then scatter with remaining butter and sugar mixture.
Bake until golden and cooked through (15-20 minutes), dust edges with icing sugar and serve immediately.

* I used a 24cm pan

Serves 6

Brioche filled with chocolate ganache

After all those tears on the weekend, a video made me laugh my heart out Monday night. Have you seen the 9 year-old boy who acts like Gordon Ramsay? I watched the video 3 times in a row – that’s how much I liked it. And there wasn’t a fourth because Joao said I would probably wake up the entire building. :)

“There is nothing like a day after another” – my granny always says. Despite her sailor’s mouth, she’s quite a wise person. :)
That’s why I bring this brioche to you today. After that bomb, I deserved some good bread. And this, my friends, is superb.

Brioche filled with chocolate ganache
from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Brioche dough*:
1 ½ cups (360ml) lukewarm water
1 ½ tablespoons granulated yeast (1 ½ packets)
1 ½ tablespoons salt
8 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup honey
1½ cups (340g/3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
7½ cups (1.050g) unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling**:
¼ pound (112g/4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate – I used 60% cocoa solids
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon rum – I used brandy
5 tablespoons corn syrup
1 egg white, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Start by making the dough: mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey and melted butter with the water in a 5-quart (4.7 liter) bowl or lidded (not airtight) food container. Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon. You can also use a 14-cup capacity food processor or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook. If you’re not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour. The dough will be loose but will firm up when chilled. Don’t try to work with it before chilling. You may notice lumps in the dough but they will disappear in the finished product.

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

The dough can be used as soon as it’s chilled after the initial rise. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond 5 days, freeze the dough in 1-pound (450g) portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. When using frozen dough, thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using, then allow the usual rise and rest times.

Now, make the ganache: melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave on low, until smooth. Remove from heat, add the butter and stir until incorporated.
Stir the cocoa into the rum, add the corn syrup and mix until smooth. Add to the chocolate and butter mixture.

Lightly butter a 9x4x3-inch nonstick loaf pan (I used a regular 26x10x5cm pan lined with baking paper). Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (450g/grapefruit-sized) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape in into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Using a rolling pin, roll out the ball into a ¼-inch (0.60cm) thick rectangle, dusting with flour as needed.

Spread ½ cup of the ganache evenly over the rectangle, leaving a 1-inch (2.5cm) border all around. Starting at the short end, roll up the dough, being careful to seal the bare edges. Gently tuck the loose ends underneath, elongate into an oval and drop into the prepared pan. Allow to rest 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Using a pastry brush, paint the top crust with the egg white. Sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.

Bake the brioche for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the sugar caramelizes. Remove from the pan and cool slightly, then drizzle the remaining ¼ cup ganache over the top crust. Cool completely and slice.

* this amount of dough makes four 1-pound loaves – I halved it to make two.

** this amount of ganache is enough to fill and drizzle over one 1-pound loaf – I doubled it to make two.