Lisa and I were in William's Sonoma a few weeks ago partaking in their free samples of seasonal mulled cider and I spotted small brioche forms. Lisa loves brioche, and there are three great variants of the recipe in Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice so last weekend was my maiden voyage into the world of brioche baking.
Brioche dough is very heavy on butter. Kneading in four sticks of room temperature unsalted butter was not the world's most pleasant experience. I would recommend using a mixer if you have one. Our mixer's name is Rob.
Half-filled petite brioche forms. The dough rises nicely once it warms up to room temperature. After approx. 2 hrs of proofing they fill the forms.
Baked and cooling.
Close-up.
Crumb. Soft and delicious.
The recipe calls for a somewhat industrial quantity of brioche. We were able to make 12 petite brioche and a loaf of brioche, most of which we ended up giving away to family. My nephews were very excited by the 'croissant bread'.
Oh my god the butter thing is why I've never undertaken a brioche project! I always figured it would be kind of gross. But I have to say your petit brioche look incredible, so professional, you'd think you were french!
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