Red, White and Blue Brioche Tartlettes for the 4th of July!

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With the 4th of July coming up I’ve been on a quest to create perfect picnic treats. Small and tasty fits that bill. Earlier this week I made Bakewell tarts on ZoeBakes and realized that it would be such an easy dessert to recreate using brioche dough, something I always have on hand.  The tarts are made with a brioche crust, a spoon of jam, a layer of frangipane (almond cream) and topped with fresh fruit. I used cherries and blueberries to create red, white and blue tarts.

Makes 18-20 tartlettes:

1 pound (gratefruit size) piece of brioche dough.

1/2 cup jam or preserves

1 recipe frangipane (almond cream- page 193 in ABin5)

fresh fruit to match the jam you’re using

egg wash (1 egg mixed well with 1 tablespoon water)

sugar for sprinkling on top of the tartlettes

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Roll out the brioche dough to about a 1/16-inch thick rectangle. Using a Round Cookie Cutter that is about 3-inch in diameter to cut out circles. Stretch the rounds out until they fit into Nonstick Mini Muffin Pan, with a bit hanging over the top. Let the dough rest while you prepare the filling.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

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place a scant teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each tart.

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place about 2 teaspoons of the frangipane filling on top of the jam. It should fill the tart about 3/4 full. Place some fruit in the top of the tarts. brush edge with egg wash using a Pastry Brushes.

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and dust entire tart with sugar.

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Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tarts are set and golden brown. (Because I slightly overfilled mine, they ran over the top, but they are easily loosened with a knife.)

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Allow to cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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Happy 4th of July!!! For a savory breakfast done in this same style, check out the Bacon and Eggs in Toast.

61 thoughts to “Red, White and Blue Brioche Tartlettes for the 4th of July!”

  1. I’ve some brioche dough in the fridge…
    I already had baked this dough on muffin pans with fresh blueberries, and was wonderful.

    1. Hi Jackie,

      You could try making them with pastry cream (page 225) instead or even lemon curd (page 228). Those both sound lovely!

      Thanks, Zoë

  2. That looks so good! If only they’d had that at the restaurant I went to last night. I thoroughly crave fruit this time of year.

    I may give this a try for the family party this Saturday, thanks!

  3. I can tell I have to make this dough – I keep saying I am going to but only have room for one dough in the fridge and I use the basic so much it wins out – but this is really really tempting me — and with lemon curd – maybe half with lemon curd and half with the almond – mmmmm

  4. Thanks for the recipe. I made these yesterday with pastry cream using blackberries, cherries, bluberries, and peaches. They were a hit.

  5. I baked some tarts this morning using Lemon Curd and fresh blueberries. I can’t believe how delicious these are. And beautiful. I can hardly wait to bake some for my co-workers on Tuesday. They are already in love with the focaccio I bring. And no one can believe that I can make thses in the morning while getting ready for work!

  6. I made these using the lemon filling for lemon bars, and a triple berry mix (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries). INCREDIBLE!! But do allow room for the fillings and dough to expand. I overfilled my cups and had to gently lift them from the cups. Thank goodness for silicone bakeware.

    1. Hi Sharon,

      There is no reason it can’t but getting it in the pans will require some experimenting. Their small size will work in your favor!

      Enjoy, Zoë

  7. I actually like kneeding the dough. If I want to kneed, should I still include the vital wheat gluten? Do I still need to create extra wet dough? I’m basing this question off page 8 of “Healthy Breads.”

    1. Hi Sarah,

      Yes, you will still need the vital wheat gluten or the dough will be much too wet and not have enough structure to be stored in the refrigerator. If you need our dough it will be dense unless you let it rest for longer before baking.

      Thanks, Zoë

  8. I have made both the basic recipe from the Healthy in 5 book (p55) and the basic white from your site, and have been disappointed in both.

    With the whole grain, the first loaf was passable, but not nearly worth the hype, and the next loaf I made about 5 days later was worthless. I pitched it AND the rest of the dough.

    So I went back to basics, knowing that white is easier than whole grain. Bought unbleached flour, and followed the recipe. It rose nicely in the fridge, but when I baked it, it was about 1 1/2 inches at the “peak” of the loaf (was in the fridge about 15 hours, then rising on the counter about 6 hours).

    I had great hopes from all the positive comments, but was very disappointed.

    Pat

    1. Hi Pat,

      I am sorry you were disappointed. Letting the dough rest on the counter for 6 hours probably resulted in the dough over-proofing. This means that the yeast has given all that it can and therefore has nothing left for the oven spring. Did you use a very small amount of yeast, is that why you did such a long rise? If you let the dough rest for 1 hour, you may have a much better result.

      You may also want to check out many of our videos: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/instructional-videos-youtube

      Zoë

  9. Hi Jeff and Zoe,
    I was just wondering if the new book will have glazed/glossy pages? Or do you all plan on the pages being the same as the other two books?
    Thanks in advance

    1. Hi Nia,

      As far as we know it will be the same format as the last books, but with more pictures. The color photos will be inserted in sections as before, just more of them!

      Thanks, Zoë

  10. Hi. I have a question related to something else. I often bake the master recipe from the healthy bread book. I also often make it in a loaf pan instead of a free form loaf so my kids can use it for sandwiches. Before baking, the recipe says to brush the top with water and put slashes across the top of the loaf. Whenever I try to put slashes I ruin the shape of the loaf so much. It shrinks up and doesn’t look as nice as before I’ve attempted the slashing.

    When I do free form loaves I slash them and they stay fine…usually, so I know how to do the slashing.

    Also, I should say that sometimes I add some different things to the master recipe. Sometimes I’ll use 1/2 c of oil instead of all 4 cups of water, and sometimes I add some seeds, but not too much.

    Thanks,
    Paige.

    1. Hi Paige,

      You can hold the dough to prevent it from moving as you slash. Be sure to have a very sharp knife. But, you don’t have to slash the loaf pan breads at all if you don’t want.

      Thanks, Zoë

  11. For artisan bread in 5 minutes, i have a question: I made a big batch of dough probably 2 mos ago and promptly forgot about it! when i tried to make some bread way after the requisite 10 days max, ouch, the bread was sour! is the dough now a throw away or can it be rescued?

    1. Hi Theresa,

      The dough is probably too old to restore. You could use a small portion of it to jump start the sour flavor in a new batch, but you have to make very sure that it is free of any mold.

      Thank you! Zoë

  12. I have a question about the ‘Bran Enriched White Bread’ recipe on pages 72 and 73 of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
    The ingredient list includes a cornstarch wash but the actual step where the cornstarch wash would generally occur tells me to sprinkle the loaf with flour before scoring and says nothing about cornstarch washes. Which should I do? Can I do either?

    1. Hi Alexander,

      Yes, you can do either or you can just brush the loaf with water and get pretty much the same effect as the cornstarch wash, with much less effort!

      Enjoy, Zoë

  13. Hello, Jeff and Zoe I have a lean whole wheat dough that has an overly sour/vinegar taste & smell. Any ideas what I did to cause this? Any ideas how I can use this dough? Ideas from anyone would be helpful. After a taste of my last overly sour bread I processed it into bread crumbs to prevent waste. This dough I’d like to try something different. Anyone have ideas for me?

    1. Nia: At what dough-age do you perceive the overly sour smell? And most importantly, does this dissipate when you bake the dough, or does it persist in the finished loaf? If it doesn’t persist, you can use it as-is.

      If you want a less sourdough effect, you need to use the dough sooner, freezing the excess for later. You may appreciate the low-yeast versions of our recipes, see https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2007/12/19/low-yeast-version-of-our-master-recipe

  14. Hello Jeff, the first batch was about 5 days, and it did persist in the finished product. Actually I smelled nothing with the dough until the finished loaf was baked up and I tasted it. ALCOHOL FLAVOR ALL THE WAY. This last batch is about 17 days old. I know you all say up to two weeks but I guess I was hoping I didn’t have to waste the dough.

  15. So I will definitely take your suggestion to use the dough sooner. I guess the longer it sits the more sour my dough becomes. I do want to share that I was able to roll some of the overly sourgh dough extremely thin and use as a shell for quiche. Not as flaky as traditional pie crust, but worked for my family just the same.

  16. Oh and my 17 day old dough had that gray color and was a little leathery on the top since the bucket was mostly empty, but there were deffinitely NO FUZZY PATCHES or anything I could view as harmful.

    1. No, that doesn’t sound like mold. Freezing before you get to the limits of storage time will help you prevent this. Freeze in loaf-sized portions and defrost overnight in the fridge before use.

    1. Karen: Commercial breads achieve a “low-carb” per slice designation by slicing very thin and keeping the slices small, plus using lots of whole grains. By avoiding white flour, you swap out some of the carbs and protein for bran and germ (which are almost carb-free). Having said that, I don’t consider any breads to be all that low in carbs– they’re made from grains, which are largely carbohydrates.

      That said, if you want to bake “lower”-carbohydrate breads, do any of the 100% whole-grain dough recipes in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (on Amazon at https://bit.ly/3wYSSN ). There are about a dozen that are 100% whole grain in that book. Jeff

  17. Hi,
    I was looking through the Gluten-free chapter of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day and I was wondering if there is any good non-wheat flour to use as a replacement for the brown rice flour that is used in most of the recipes. My problem is not with the gluten, but with the actual wheat itself, and brown rice contains the same substance. Any suggestion would be appreciated. I haven’t tried the recipe on p.244 that does not have brown rice flour yet, but I hope to soon. Thanks!

    1. Hi April,

      Can you tell me some of the grains you can eat and we can try to figure out a good substitute for you.

      Thanks, Zoë

  18. Hi,
    I can eat most of them. Buckwheat, oats, rye, corn… Really, the only alternative flours that I know I cannot eat are brown rice, spelt, and kamut. I’m still learning, but anything besides those three should be worth a try. Thanks.

    1. Hi April,

      In that case I would start with the Sorghum flour and see if that gets you the flavor and texture you are looking for. You may need to cut it with a bit of tapioca or cornstarch if it is too heavy. I would start with small batches and see what you think. Please let us know how it goes.

      Thanks and good luck! Zoë

  19. I have found the perfect container for a 1/2 batch of dough. Pyrex makes an 8 cup measuring cup with a plastic lid. It is the perfect size for mixing a 1/2 batch of dough. It has just enough room for the dough to rise during the first room temperature rise. It fits well in the refrigerator. The lid contains the dough but is not airtight. You can even stack other containers on top of it in the refrigerator. This item can be seen on the pyrex web site at https://www.pyrexware.com/index.asp?pageId=13&CatID=379&SubCatID=391&upc=71160060463.

    1. Hi Rich,

      Thanks, this is a great alternative and the glass will appeal to many of our readers!

      Enjoy the bread, Zoë

  20. Thanks for the advice. I will gather the equipment and get started. I’ll let you know how it goes.

  21. I have the artisan bread in 5 minutes a day and every recipe I’ve tried has been delicious but the dough is so sticky, it’s unpleasant to work with. Am I wrong? What can I do? The first time I thought I forgot a cup of flour. It’s always sticky. I won’t slide of the peel and I can barely make a dough ball.

  22. I have a question about the pesto bread from your Healthy Bread book. It calls for 2 cups of spelt flour. Can I substitute an equal amount of whole wheat? I looked for spelt at my local supermarket but had no luck. I know I can eventually track some down but I have a basil plant growing like a weed right now and want to try this bread.

    Thanks!
    -drew-

    1. Drew: you can, but most WW flours absorb more water than spelt, so you will probably have to increase the water by about 1/8 cup. Will take some experimentation. Jeff

  23. Hello Zoe and Jeff—I am a huge fan of your books! My husband checked out ABin5 for me at the library a few months ago, and it reaffirmed my belief that modern breadmaking has turned so complicated that most people won’t try it. Your methods are so simple and the product so delicious, there is NO REASON why people are buying sub-standard stuff at the supermarket.

    Your methods also helped me have enough courage to sell bread at our local farmer’s market. Using all recipes from your first book, I have been able to sell between 50-70 loaves weekly, and am proudly sporting the title of Bread Wench. Thank you!

    My question involves rye. When I bake for the farmer’s market, I do my batches of potato rye the day before, because they are still so fresh-tasting one day later. That way, my ovens are freed up for the other sorts of bread the day I need to sell them. Are there any other kinds of bread that you could recommend that would also taste fresh even the next day? I can only bake so many loaves the day I sell them….are there other kinds I could make ahead of time?

    Thanks for your time and all your good work!
    Mollie

    1. Mollie: Bread wench!!?? Pretty funny! So glad you’re liking the method.

      Anything with naturally-occurring “sour” is naturally preserved. So the older-dough batches, or if you’ve jump-started with a little piece of dough— those will be naturally preserving. I think a little rye always helps with that too, not sure why. Jeff

  24. If I can just chip in on the gluten-free thing – I have found that although my hub and I ar very gluten intolerant, as long as the bread is slow-made, we don’t have a problem with it at all. If I make sure that the dough has proofed for a minimum of 6 hours (I prefer overnight to 12 hours or more) we don’t react to it at all, because the chemical interaction between the flour, yeast and water has converted and pre-digested the gluten and other proteins making it far more digestible. I haven’t yet bought your book but am very keen to try the cold rise method as that obviously is also a very slow process.

  25. Hi – not just my observation Zoe, but that of many people. What opened my eyes was the Weston Price foundation info on wheat, gluten and fermentation, and a little Kindle book, ‘Whole don’t mean wholesome’ written by Clive Lawler, who was also gluten intolerant and realised it wasn’t him, or the wheat, it was the way it was – or rather wasn’t prepared. As wheat is in so many foods now in an unprepared form, it is no wonder that so many people are developing problems with it.

  26. This looks wonderful! I am thinking of making these in a savory version with some BBQ pork or sausage and cheese!

    Anyway, I was wondering if you know if I can use JUST egg yolks for the brioche recipe? I have tons of frozen egg yolks in the freezer that I’ve saved when using just the whites for my breakfast eggs.

    Thanks!

      1. Thanks for the reply, Jeff. Actually, I have a half batch in the oven proofing right now. I didn’t make any adjustments and the dough is lovely! I ordered a couple silicone briochette pans from Amazon that are due to arrive any minute so I hope to do a trial run with the dough a bit later today. I’ll report back…

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