Claire Elizabeth

birthday

Brioche is one of my favourite enriched breads. I never realised how good it is until I actually tasted some real french brioche myself in France. I have not delved much into the world of bread making- my last attempt was back at Easter time when I tried to have a go at making my own hot cross buns. Unfortunately, due to the cold weather, the dough failed to rise and the resulting buns were rather dense and tough (although still rather tasty). With the summer finally here I decided to give bread making another bash and make a brioche loaf. My reason for choosing brioche (other than the fact that it is delicious) is because over the weekend we had a couple of French guests visiting from France to stay with us. My mum suggested I make some brioche- maybe she thought that making a brioche loaf would make them feel more at home or something- anyhoo, it was a great excuse for me to get in the kitchen and try and improve my bread making skills!

Making the dough was quite a long process, as it required three risings in total. One before adding the butter, one afterwards and one final rising (proving) before baking the loaves in the oven. Luckily, it rose beautifully and was a pleasure to make. I found that the dough was too sticky to need by hand so I used our electric beater with a dough hook which certainly did the trick. I was rather nervous before putting my two loaves in the oven, as I so desperately wanted them to come and perfect and impress our French guests. However, I needn't have worried as the resulting loaves came out of the oven looking golden brown and smelling delicious- just as brioche should.

I found that my homemade brioche was slightly different than the commercially made stuff as it was more buttery, crumbly and much less sweet. Infact, it almost had a mildly salty taste. Needless to say, it was still thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, and we have a spare loaf in the freezer for next time! As well as this, we were also lucky enough to receive a 1kg brioche from Roger Sicard in the Vendee and my goodness is this stuff addictive! It's beautifully moist, doughy and sweet with hints of vanilla and strong tastes of rum, which really does work- definetely something I should try adding in the future!