Comments on: Brioche Dough Recipe and all of its wonderful uses!

By: jeff

jeff — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:10:34 +0000

Monika: What I like about this recipe is that the sweetness is subtle– Zoe’s recipes from the pastry kitchen are very sophisticated… Jeff

By: monika

monika — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:05:14 +0000

made the dough yesterday and today i sauteed some pineapple chunks, apples and some weird berry i found in the asian store. then i smothered it with the brioche dough and put it on the grill outside. MMM! after dinner we had it with some tea and, i mast say, it was wonderfully good! fluffy, not sweet, not chewey…. thank you. the rest of the bucket will be baked into desserts for the holiday weekend.

By: jeff

jeff — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:49:24 +0000

Well, let us know what happens. Concerned that maybe measured wrong? Expired yeast? This is a really uncommon problem

By: Celine

Celine — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:35:41 +0000

No, I think it didn’t rise until the half of the bucket…

I will give an another try later, thanks!!

By: zoe

zoe — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:11:12 +0000

Hi Celine,

Did the brioche rise the nearly the top of your bucket after you mixed it? This dough usually gets quite a good rise.

The texture of the brioche is a little more cakey than you are used to in France, but it shouldn’t be dense. I think you may need to let the dough rest a bit longer and if you want a stretchier bread give it a bit more stirring when you mix it.

Thanks, Zoë

By: Celine

Celine — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:04:12 +0000

1. it’s about the same temperature
2. oh i didn’t think about this!! maybe!
3. the water was lukewarm. the bowl of butter wasn’t hot, i don’t think the butter was!
4. i live in france, and we don’t have the same names for flour… i checked websites, and all-purpose seems equivalent to “farine T55″ (starch : 68 à 72 %)
5. 6. i just follow the recipe on this page, i let the dough rise about 2-3 hours!

thanks for the quick reply!
i baked them, it wasn’t fluffy at all, like a brioche. it was more like cake??

By: jeff

jeff — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:13:11 +0000

Celine: Need more info; some possibilities:

1. House too cool? 66-68 is what we tested at.
2. Yeast expired?
3. Water too hot? too cold? If the butter was really hot and you mixed it right in, might have warmed the water too much. Unlikely, but possible.
4. Unusual flour? We tested with ordinary supermarket unbleached all-purpose, like Gold Medal
5. Didn’t wait long enough?
6. Which of our books are you using, which exact recipe?

Don’t worry about the appearance of butter as little lumps in the dough, that’s fine, will work out as bakes.

By: Celine

Celine — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:02:51 +0000

Hi!

I prepared the dough yesterday, but it didn’t rise so much…

I read some comments where you said the reason may be the hot butter ??
I don’t remember it was hot, maybe just lukewarm… but I realize my dough isn’t soft like your picture, there are some “grain” of butter…

I’m still trying to make some small brioches in muffin pans (the dough is resting) but i’m pretty sure it won’t work…

Thanks!

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:30:03 +0000

Suzanne: See other tips on sourdough starter at http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1284

One way to deal with this would be to leave the egg-enriched dough out for two hours max, then complete the rest of the rise in the fridge. It will take a long time, think 18 to 36 hours.

By: zoe

zoe — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:04:31 +0000

Hi Suzanne,

Hmmm, this is an interesting question. I’m sure you can, but I have yet to try it. The issue with using a starter is that the rise times are quite a bit longer and I am a little nervous to advise you to leave the egg filled doughs out for as long as it might take to get a nice initial rise. You may want to compromise and add a small portion of commercial yeast. If you want to try it, start by adding a cup of your starter and just reduce the flour and water equally.

Thanks and let me know if you try it!

Zoë