Brioche En Surprise Recipes

BRIOCHE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour sugar and salt. Make a well in center of the bowl and mix in the eggs and yeast mixture. Beat well until the dough has pulled together, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.
• Flatten the dough and spread it with one third of the butter. Knead this well. Repeat this twice to incorporate the remaining butter. Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes between additions of butter. This process may take 20 minutes or so. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Deflate the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. It needs time to chill in order to become more workable.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, form into loaves and place into prepared pans. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, about 60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans (see Cook's Note to make rolls). Beat the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water to make a glaze.
• Brush the loaves or rolls with the egg wash. Bake in preheated oven until a deep golden brown. Start checking the loaves for doneness after 25 minutes, and rolls at 10 minutes. Let the loaves cool in the pans for 10 minutes before moving them to wire racks to cool completely.

BRIOCHE

Steps:

• For the sponge: Put the flour, yeast and milk in a medium bowl and mix with your hands until smooth and well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rest at room temperature for about 12 hours.
• For the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the eggs, sugar, salt, flour and the sponge and mix on medium speed until a smooth dough forms, about 2 minutes. The dough should spring back to the touch of your finger.
• With the mixer on medium speed, add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, allowing it to be incorporated after each addition. Continue beating until the dough is smooth (and to allow the gluten to develop), about 10 minutes. The dough will be very dense.
• Lightly coat a large bowl with melted butter. Add the dough to the prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rest for about 1 hour at room temperature. (This helps promote the formation of air pockets during baking.)
• While the dough is proofing, brush three 9-by-5-inch loaf pans generously with melted butter.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Divide into three 1-pound pieces. Gently press each piece of dough into a rectangle that's slightly smaller than a loaf pan, with the shorter end facing you. Pick up the top two corners of dough and bring them to the center, stretching the dough slightly as needed for the corners to meet. Roll this folded end over the dough to form a loaf shape.
• Gently but quickly pick up the shaped dough and place it seam-side down in the prepared loaf pans.
• Cover the pans with a damp towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it fills the pan and reaches about 1 1/2 inches above the rim, about 1 hour.
• For baking: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk the yolks and cream together for the egg wash, then brush evenly over the dough.
• Bake until the loaves are a deep brown on top and the center reaches 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack, then remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely, top side up.

RAINBOW BRIOCHE

Steps:

• Place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on low speed to combine. Add the milk and 3 of the eggs and mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until the dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
• Reduce the speed to medium and start adding the butter, a little at a time and waiting until it is completely incorporated to add more, about 5 minutes. Increase the mixer to medium-high and continue to mix until the dough is glossy and slightly tacky but not sticky, about 7 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal-size pieces. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one piece of dough and knead until vibrant and no streaks remain; set aside. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough, tinting each with one of the remaining colors (orange , yellow, green, blue or purple). Place each tinted piece of dough in a separate small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours.
• To assemble, individually roll out the 6 pieces of chilled dough on a sheet of parchment paper into six 9-by-5-inch rectangles. Stack the pieces on top of each other in the color of the rainbow, so red on the bottom, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Roll out the stack of dough again to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle; this will ensure that all the layers stick and bake together. With the red layer on the bottom, and starting from a shorter end, start rolling the dough into a tight spiral, like a jelly roll cake.
• Generously butter one 9-by-5-inch nonstick loaf pan and place the rolled dough inside, seam-side down. Generously butter a piece of plastic wrap large enough to cover the pan and place it butter-side down loosely over the pan. Let the dough rise until it comes to 1/2 inch above the rim of the pans, 2 to 3 hours.
• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Beat the remaining 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle reaches 190 degrees F, about 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the loaf to loosen and turn the loaf out of the pan. Let cool completely top-side up on the rack.

JAMES BEARD'S ONION SANDWICH RECIPE:

Steps:

• Using a glass (I found that a shot glass works great) or a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 2 to 3 bread rounds from each bread slice; discard trimmings or save to Make Homemade Bread Crumbs.
• Spread one side of each bread circle with a heavy layer of butter. Place a thin layer of sliced onions over the butter. Lightly season the onions with salt.
• Assemble the sandwiches with remaining bread slices, pressing lightly to make them adhere.
• Spread some mayonnaise around the outside rim of each sandwich round. Roll the rim of each sandwich in the minced chives or parsley to coat.
• Serve immediately or cover and refrigerator for a few hours.
• Makes 16 to 24 sandwich rounds.
• Making Sandwiches Ahead of Time:
• If you need to make tea sandwiches in advance and need to keep them from drying out, cover them loosely with a sheet of wax paper and then place a damp kitchen towel over the wax paper (never place a damp towel directly on top of the bread because the sandwiches will become soggy). Refrigerate.
• When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator. Uncover sandwiches just before serving.

BRIOCHE EN SURPRISE

Steps:

• Spread the rounds with mayonnaise. On half the slices place a very thin slice of raw onion, just the size of the round, and salt it well. Place another slice of brioche on top; roll the edges first in mayonnaise and then in finely chopped parsley.

BRIOCHE EN SURPRISE (ONION SANDWICHES)

Steps:

• Spread the rounds on one side with mayonnaise and place the rounds mayonnaise-side up on the work surface. On half of the slices place an onion round, just the size of the brioche, and salt it well. Top with the remaining brioche rounds, mayonnaise side down. Roll the edges of each sandwich first in mayonnaise, and then in the chopped parsley.