Disappointing Julia

2008-02-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

In hopes of taking my mind off my major methodological clarification/reorientation I set myself to work making brioche. Not the many many hour version advocated by Julia Child, but a quick and dirty version I found via Cook's Illustrated.

I've been converted to Cook's in the last year. I go to it for everything. Granted, I'll thumb through Mastering the Art of French Cooking to get a sense of a recipe or if I feel like exploring the minute details of an operation but when it comes down to the doing of it I always go for Cook's. So after watching the old brioche episode of The French Chef I was eager to try it out. Well, prodded to try it really, but happy to oblige the request.

Here's the way I did it, adapted from the Cook's version:

Ingredients:

1 Envelope Yeast

1/2 cup of Whole milked warmed up to about 105 degrees

2 1/4 cups unbleached flour (you will need much more for the kneading)

3/4 a stick of butter (I really like plugra for baking and the price is right at Key Foods on 5th Ave. in Park Slope)

3 tbls. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

You'll also need a small loaf pan with the bottom lined with greased parchment paper. Additionally, plastic wrap is good to have on hand.

Process:

1. I whisked the yeast and milk together followed by a cup of flour. I covered it and let it be.

2. Then I mixed up the sugar, butter, and salt in the food processor until it got soft and creamy. Then I added the eggs one at a time and processed each fully until everything was well combined and had a nice smooth, ribbony texture. Then I added the flour/milk/yeast mixture and the remaining 1 1/4 cups of flour and processed it all for about 15 seconds or so until it formed a shaggy, sticky dough.

3. Then I turned it out onto a floured board and worked it till it was smooth, adhered to itself, and no longer stuck to my hand as I kneaded it. I was surprised at how much more flour it took before the dough got to the "just right" stage.

4. After that I pressed the dough into about a 9-by-5 inch rectangle. I folded the short edges in about an inch, then folded the long top edge down to the middle and then the lower long edge up and over, then pinched the dough to seal it up. Next, I placed it into the pan, covered it with some grease plastic wrap and let it rise for a while, about an 1 hour and 30 minutes. Here I preheated the oven to 350.

5. After it had risen an inch above the top of the pan I removed the plastic, slashed the top with a knife and then put it into the oven for about 40 minutes. Then I removed it, let it cool in the pan for a few minutes, then took it out cool to room temp.

Overall I wasn't too happy with it. I'm still fairly new to baking breads and working with yeast and haven't done enough recipes enough times to have the kinks worked out. The resulting brioche had a dense crumb and was yeasty. Both are good qualities usually but here they just seemed out of place. Also, I'm not so keen on food processing dough, I worry that it overworks the dough and makes it really tough. But all told it's a fairly easy recipe and it's easily done in the evening and enjoyed for breakfast, toasted with jam and butter. However, I'll be devoting a weekend in the coming month to trying the full proper recipe and see if I can created a pale delicious imitation of Silver Moon's chocolate chip brioche. And tomorrow the last bits are becoming French toast.

By way of introduction . . .

2008-02-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

Greetings. I'll be leaving here the occasional thoughts on musicology, methods of historical and critical inquiry, and recipes I'm trying out. I look forward to writing tomorrow about the brioche I'm making tonight.

Occasional Variations

Disappointing Julia

By way of introduction . . .