Brioche

It's a Saturday morning and, as is often the case, I decided to treat myself to a little piece of heaven and learn something while I'm at it.

Today's learning experience: Brioche.  The recipe I decided on is this one for Bubble Top Brioches from Bon Appetit. I love the single-serving aspect of the Parkerhouse rolls configuration. It's not the traditional shape but for my learning experience, this will do. Next time will include the fluted brioche tins and the little "head" on top.

Pulling out the cell phone out of my pocket, here's some evidence: 

Mine don't look as pretty as theirs, but holy mother of God are they heavenly. 

I have made yeast breads, biscuits, bagels, pretzels and the like before, so I was deceived by the texture of this dough. It was really difficult to overcome the temptation to add more flour, as it was so soft and sticky it just didn't look "right" or finished. But the OCD voice inside of me took hold, reminding me that the very first time you try a recipe you should follow it to the letter, so as to achieve the outcome as was meant by those who created it, only adding your own ingenuity and creativity once you've experienced the "supposed to be" version. The same voice pointed out the fact that they have you chill this dough overnight, perhaps this being the way to compensate for the gooey, pasty nature of this dough.

I'm so glad I listened to that voice, as the result would have been tougher and lacking in tenderness had I ruined it by adding more flour. Phew.

It's so worth it to bake from scratch when the outcome is this ethereal, fluffy, delicate, decadent and sinful (they tell you how many grams of fat are in one of these, which I'm still trying to figure out why I had to look at in the first place). 

 

Cake and bread came together in a tender, loving marriage with brioche as their offspring.

"Still Life with Brioche" by Edouard Manet, 1880