BRIOCHE ~ PRONOUNCED BRIYOSH

These Brioche made the Top 9 on Foodbuzz today 30th April 2011. Thank you to the Foodbuzz community! Happy Buzzday :)

I used Sarah-Jane's brioche moulds from siliconemoulds.com. to make the brioche. They came out adorable with little buns on their heads. I thought it was quite funny when I picked one up and the little bun-head rolled off almost immediately. But it was only the one.  How comic it would have been if all of them had rolled off.

These were the silicone moulds from siliconemoulds.com that Sarah had mailed me. As always nothing could be easier than un-moulding from a  silicone mould.  Effortless. 

A tip I had learnt so that the tops are perfectly middle when they finished baking was to depress the base dough in the middle right to the bottom with your thumb before brushing egg yolk and placing the bun-head on top. Generally, it worked except for a few. But lopsided or not they were delicious, soft, buttery and adorable. What more does one need in a bun.

They photograph well too. But breads always do.

So do milk bottles ~

And then buns. And their bun-heads ~

I wish I had something more to say ~

But I don't. So here's the recipe ~ adapted from Lemons and Anchovies

The brioche dough is usually kept in the refrigerator overnight retarding the dough to develop the flavour and stiffen the rich, buttery and soft dough for easier handling....Wikipedia

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 3 eggs beaten plus one more, beaten, for glazing
• 3 tablespoons room temperature milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, diced

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl; stir in sugar and yeast. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the eggs and milk.
 

Beat the eggs and milk together and gradually incorporate the dry ingredients, making a soft dough.  Transfer the dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead well for about five minutes, until it is smooth and elastic.  I had floured my hands rather than sprinkled flour onto the board when it was sticky.

Add a few pieces of room temperature butter to the dough and continue to knead until the butter is incorporated.  About 2 minutes of kneading for each addition of butter.  Continue this process until you have added all the butter.  I kneaded a few more minutes after the butter has been added until I stopped seeing chunks of butter in the dough.  

I wrapped in plastic wrap anyway and chilled for about 2 hours.

I did not bother greasing the brioche moulds. Take a golf ball size of douh and shape into a ball. Place seam side down into the mould.  Fill up the rest of the moulds similarly and let it rise until double in size. I can't rememebr how many minutes it took. Maybe 30 - 40minutes. Meanwhile shape smaller balls of dough into small rounds for the bun-heads. Keep aside. Press your thumb inot the middle of a risen  risen dough. brush the top with egg yolk and stick a bun-head on the top.  Do the same for the rest.

Cover the balls and allow them to rest for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.  Preheat oven to 400ºF. Before baking brush all buns with beaten eg. Bake until golden and puffed. About 12-15 minutes.