Exploring new territory at the moment. Brioche is one of my favourite sweet bread and I love french toast for breakfast. Found a recipe on the fresh loaf, I have to say this was such a faff to do, and it was not the smoothest of cooking process. I think this one definitely takes some practice. Anyway the original recipe can be found on fresh loaf by foolish poolish.
Prep: feed your starter with white flour 8 hours before.
Ingredient:
- 200g bread flour
- 80g sugar (I used orange sugar)
- 10g salt
- 3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 100g (approx) milk
- 200g all purpose flour
- 200g firm white starter
- 150g unsalted butter (soft enough to easily mix)
- optional:
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract + grated zest of 1 lemon
- 6 cloves
Recipe:
- Using a hand mixer beat the eggs + sugar + salt + bread flour + lemon zest + lemon extract +cloves into a smooth past. Rest for 30min
- Mix all purpose flour + milk. Rest for 20min
- Knead the starter + flour/milk mix together
- Add the egg mixture + starter mix a little at a time until combined
- I used a hand mixer to incorporate a little butter at time. it should be shiny and gloopy. At this point the mixture will be annoying to handle.
- Let the dough rest for an hour.
- On a (very) well floured surface, shape your dough as much as possible. The dough will be a little to liquidy to really shape into anything other than a ball. Place the dough in a baking tin and cover loosely
- Proof for eight hours.
- When ready, preheat the oven to 204Celcius
- Apply a simple glaze wash
- Bake for 30 min. cover with tin foil if it gets to brown.
- Let it cool for 30min.
Tadaa!
The flavour is quite lovely, citrus and sweet but not overly sweet. Slightly disappointed about the texture. It is about more bready and not quite as fluffy as I would have hoped. Although considering how what complete chaos doing this recipe for the first time was, maybe its more of one of those recipes that needs a bit of practice……
Anyways as the old adage goes, if god give you brioche make french toast.
I used Felicity Cloake’s recipe for the prefect french toast. I added a bit of milk it just seem to eggy without. The mixture also was just really thick and did not coat nor was it absorbed by the brioche right. Flour in the recipe gives the exterior a nice crunch.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp clarified butter or noisette butter, melted
- and a bit more to cooke the french toast
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp granulated sugar, plus extra to sprinkle
- ¼ tsp salt
- Pinch of ground cloves
- Pinch of ground mace
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- Finely grated zest of ½ lemon (optional)
- 2 tsp plain flour
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 2 x 2cm-thick slices of stale, good-quality white bread (your brioche in this case)
Recipe:
- Melt the butter. I like to noisette the butter which takes an extra 5 min but worth it.
- To make noisette butter, is super basic. basically melting the butter at high temperature in a pan, make sure it does not burn by constantly whisking. As soon as can smell a nutty aroma take it off the heat and continue whisking for a couple more minute and transfer to a cool container.
- Let the the butter cool down.
- Meanwhile mix with a whisk eggs + sugar + salt + spice +lemon zest in a flat base container.
- mix in a little of the mixture with the flour to make paste and mix the past back in with mixture. (This is best to prevent flour lumps. Alternatively but no as good, you can sift in the flour.)
- Whisk in the milk
- Leave the brioche sliced in for 10 min on one side and 5 minutes on the other.
- Heat your pan I usually cook bacon and use the rendered fat to cook the french toast or can use butter.
- Medium heat cooke the french toast till golden on both sides.
Enjoy!
Internet loafing 