Project #1: Brioche Bread
What is Brioche bread? Brioche is a highly enriched French bread, whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. It has a dark, golden, and flaky crust from an egg wash applied after proofing (Wikipedia). In other words, it is a bread that tastes similar to a crescent roll because of its high level of butter (it does not have the texture or flakiness of a crescent roll though). This bread is so good I could have eaten it plain, and Jay and the kids agreed. It is not a heavy bread, rather very light but full of buttery flavor. Some loaves can have up to a stick and a half of butter in one loaf! I don't need to stop any hearts in my family, so I stuck to King Arthur's version. This loaf may have been a bit smaller than the others I have seen, but it only called for 5 tablespoons of butter per loaf. I also like the look of King Arthur's recipe, being that the bread was braided.
2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I just used regular all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk (I used nonfat dry milk)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 large eggs (Use 3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, this will allow you to brush the leftover egg white on the loaf if you're planning to garnish it with sugar.)
1/4 cup lukewarm water
10 tablespoons butter
In a stand mixer or bread machine (programmed for dough), mix together all of the ingredients to form a smooth, shiny dough. Don't worry; what starts out as a sticky mess becomes beautifully satiny as it kneads. This dough takes longer than most to develop, so be prepared to let the dough knead for up to 15 to 20 minutes in a stand mixer. Also, we don't recommend trying to knead it by hand. If you're using a bread machine, let it complete its kneading cycle, then continue as directed below.
Form the dough into a ball (it'll be very soft), place it in a greased bowl, cover the bowl, and it let rise for 1 hour (it doesn't rise a whole lot in this hour). Then refrigerate the dough for several hours, or overnight (keeping it covered). This will slow the fermentation and chill the butter, making the dough easier to shape (again you won't see much change overnight - I chilled mine for nearly 20 hours).
When the dough is removed from the fridge, it is nearly as hard as a brick of cheese.
Divide the dough in half. You’ll be making two loaves. Divide each half into three pieces, and roll them into ropes about 11” to 12” long. Ready two 8 1/2” x 4 1/2” loaf pans by spraying with non-stick vegetable oil spray (I used shortening). Surprisingly, even though the dough looks like clay, it is very easy to work with. You do not need to flour your work surface while doing this.
You’re going to braid the ropes. First, squeeze the ends of the ropes together. Bring one outside rope over the center rope. That outside rope now becomes the center.
Bring the outside rope from the other end over the center…
…and repeat.
Continue until you’ve made a braid. Tuck the ends underneath. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Nestle the two loaves in the two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 greased pans. They’ll seem pretty skimpy; that’s OK.
Cover the pans. Since the dough has been in the fridge overnight, it takes awhile to warm up and get going. Give it a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours to rise, till it’s noticeably puffy.
Brush the dough with an egg white mixed with 1 tablespoon of milk (I think I used water; both work well). Sprinkle with sugar, if you like. I used Wilton's white sparkling coarse sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (I baked mine 20 minutes) until the tops are golden brown…
…then tent with foil, and continue to bake another 25 minutes (for a total of 45 minutes), or until the center feels set when you insert a cake tester or toothpick. It won’t feel sticky inside, and the tester will side out easily. An instant-read thermometer probe, inserted into the center, will read at least 205°F. I don't have an instant read thermometer, but I did check mine with a thermometer, because I read that most often Brioche bread can be under-baked.
Remove from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, turn out of the pan onto a rack to cool.
Now for the photo shoot...this bread is gorgeous!
Like I said, we could have eaten the whole loaf of bread plain. I gave a few small slices to Jay, myself and the kids. They loved it...
YUMMY!
Everyone wanted more to eat, but I had to save the bread for my next project.
Project #2: French Toast
Brioche is one of the best breads to use for french toast. It is important to use day old bread though. So if you can resist from eating this bread, wait one day to make this incredible breakfast treat! This step was pretty easy. You can adjust this recipe to your liking. I used a recipe from Joy of Baking.
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk or cream (I used half and half, and I would use this again for next time)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 loaves of Brioche bread (1 day old, and cut into 1 inch slices - I got eight slices per loaf of bread))
Butter for frying (I used 2 tablespoons on the griddle per loaf of bread)
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, half and half, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Dip both sides of each slice of bread into the egg mixture and place each slice in a shallow dish (I used my 10x15 glass dish). Let the bread soak up the egg mixture for three minutes. Give each bread slice one more quick dunk in the egg mixture before placing on the hot griddle.
Meanwhile, on a large non-stick griddle (350 degrees), melt about 2 tablespoons of butter (yes, the butter is important to the flavor - do not skip this). Fry the slices of bread until golden brown on one side and then turn and fry the other side. If not serving immediately, keep warm in a 250 degree F (130 degree C) oven. Continue frying the other slices of bread, adding more butter as needed.
Check out that golden brown french toast. The scent of cinnamon is so good!
Okay, now for the final project #3: Homemade Buttermilk Caramel Syrup
This caramel is so so SO good! It tastes just like a jar of caramel ice cream topping. Along with ice cream, you can use this caramel to top a number of things including french toast. That is if you can resist eating it with a spoon first! :)
Just like the caramel you buy from a store, this needs to be kept in the fridge. When you are ready to serve it, simply nuke it in the microwave a little bit and it will become pourable again.
Recipe from Our Best Bites
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick real butter
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a LARGE pot. Like one you'd make soup in. Yes, you'll have way more pot than ingredients, but this will boil all over your newly-cleaned stove if you put it in a smaller saucepan.
Bring ingredients to a boil and reduce heat to low (as long as it's still bubbling, you're okay). Cook, stirring very frequently, for 8-9 minutes. You're basically making candy here and candy-making requires constant vigilance.
When it's done, it should take on a luscious golden-brown color. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Once cooled a bit, there will be a very thin layer of foam on top. It tastes just as good, but it's not super pretty. If you're into aesthetics, you can skim it off (which is very easy to do); otherwise, just give it a good stir.
Here it is...a breakfast completely made from scratch. Every bite was worth it! I will make this one again and again!
So if you're actually to the end of this very long post, I gather you are considering making this one. Let me assure you, it really was not all that hard to do. Taking pictures and blogging all of this was half the work. Let me break it down for you...
Day 1...whip up the dough ingredients, let rise for one hour and then place in fridge.
Day 2...Take 20 minutes to braid the loaves. Let rise for 3 hours (no work involved there), and then bake for 45 minutes. Then, do your best by avoiding this bread, so you restrain from eating it. When you have an extra 15 minutes this evening, make the syrup, and place in the fridge.
Day 3...Make french toast! We all know how easy this step is. I even made my french toast the night before day four and just microwaved it for a few minutes the morning I served it. The caramel can be warmed a bit in the microwave so it is pourable again.
So go ahead, MAKE THIS!!!! Take one step, then one foot after another... You will love it, and you will be so proud of yourself!
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