Brioche De La Riviera Recipes

BRIOCHE DE LA RIVIERA

Steps:

• Make the levain: In a 4-cup glass measuring cup, combine apple and water. Use an immersion blender or food processor to puree. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the apple mixture with 300 grams (10 1/2 ounces) high-gluten flour. Beat on medium-low until a stiff dough forms, about 3 minutes.
• Place levain into a large clean container. Cover tightly, and let rise in a very warm place for at least 24 and up to 48 hours. (The temperature should be 79 degrees. A good place would be near, but not on, a stove or heating source -- do not rise in an oven.) The dough should rise until tripled in bulk and then it will, most likely, fall.
• Remove 150 grams (5.4 ounces) of levain from the center of the risen dough, and discard the remaining levain. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine levain with 150 grams (5.4 ounces) high-gluten flour and 1/3 cup warm water until a uniform dough is formed. Transfer to a work surface, and knead briefly. Shape into a ball, return to the mixer bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place until tripled in size, about 4 hours. Repeat this process twice. The levain is now ready to use. Be sure to always take the levain from the center of the levain because the natural yeasts are more concentrated there.
• Make the sponge: In a glass measuring cup, combine sugar and scant 1 cup water. Stir to dissolve sugar. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine high-gluten flour, sugar mixture, and prepared natural levain. Starting on low speed, beat until flour is incorporated. Increase speed to medium, and beat until dough is smooth, about 6 minutes start to finish.
• Add cold butter a bit at a time, while beating on low speed for about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium, and beat until smooth, 6 to 8 minutes more. Scrape down bowl as necessary. If necessary, switch to paddle attachment briefly to help incorporate butter. Add egg yolks, and beat on low until incorporated. Increase speed to medium, and continue beating until dough is shiny, elastic, and comes away from sides of bowl. (It will make a slapping sound when the speed is increased) Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let stand in a very warm place for 12 hours. (The temperature should be 79 degrees. A good place would be near, but not on, a stove or heating source -- do not rise in an oven.) The dough should triple in bulk.
• Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and honey until smooth, about 1 minute. Set aside. In a liquid measuring cup, combine 80 ml (scant 1/2 cup) water, the sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and lemon and orange oils. Stir to combine. Sprinkle the high-gluten flour over the risen sponge. Beat on low until all the flour is incorporated, about 3 minutes.
• With machine running on medium-low speed, gradually add the liquid mixture; if the dough begins to separate, stop adding the liquid and briefly increase speed to medium high until dough just comes back together. Reduce speed, and continue adding liquid. It should take about 4 minutes to add all of the liquid. Increase speed to medium high, and beat until dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 5 minutes more.
• With machine running on medium speed, add the creamed honey mixture all at once. Beat until incorporated, about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add egg yolks, and beat on medium low until incorporated and dough is shiny and elastic, about 4 minutes. Add raisins and orange peel, and beat until just incorporated, about 2 minutes more.
• Lightly oil work surface. Turn dough out onto surface, and cut into six 190-gram (6.8-ounce) pieces and four 250-gram (9-ounce) pieces. Work each piece of dough into a ball. Place smaller pieces into 3 1/2-inch-baking papers and large pieces in 4 1/2-inch-baking papers. Place filled papers onto baking sheets. Place each baking sheet into a large plastic bag, and seal. Set aside in a very warm place until tripled in volume, 6 to 8 hours. (The temperature should be 79 degrees. A good place would be near, but not on, a stove or heating source -- do not rise in an oven.)
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Make the topping: In the bowl of a food processor, combine almonds, flour, and confectioners' sugar. Process until fine. Transfer to a medium bowl, and add grapeseed oil and egg whites. Stir to combine. The glaze should be thick and almost pastelike.
• Gently spoon about 2 tablespoons glaze over the top of each risen brioche to cover. Sprinkle with whole almonds (about 6 per loaf). Sprinkle heavily with pearl sugar. Bake until golden brown and set, 25 to 30 minutes for the small, 30 to 35 minutes for the large.

THE RIVIERA

Steps:

• Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and mix vigorously. Stop when the shaker is too cold to hold. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

RAINBOW BRIOCHE

Steps:

• Place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on low speed to combine. Add the milk and 3 of the eggs and mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until the dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
• Reduce the speed to medium and start adding the butter, a little at a time and waiting until it is completely incorporated to add more, about 5 minutes. Increase the mixer to medium-high and continue to mix until the dough is glossy and slightly tacky but not sticky, about 7 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal-size pieces. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one piece of dough and knead until vibrant and no streaks remain; set aside. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough, tinting each with one of the remaining colors (orange , yellow, green, blue or purple). Place each tinted piece of dough in a separate small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours.
• To assemble, individually roll out the 6 pieces of chilled dough on a sheet of parchment paper into six 9-by-5-inch rectangles. Stack the pieces on top of each other in the color of the rainbow, so red on the bottom, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Roll out the stack of dough again to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle; this will ensure that all the layers stick and bake together. With the red layer on the bottom, and starting from a shorter end, start rolling the dough into a tight spiral, like a jelly roll cake.
• Generously butter one 9-by-5-inch nonstick loaf pan and place the rolled dough inside, seam-side down. Generously butter a piece of plastic wrap large enough to cover the pan and place it butter-side down loosely over the pan. Let the dough rise until it comes to 1/2 inch above the rim of the pans, 2 to 3 hours.
• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Beat the remaining 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle reaches 190 degrees F, about 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the loaf to loosen and turn the loaf out of the pan. Let cool completely top-side up on the rack.

FRENCH RIVIERA

Steps:

• In a mixing glass, muddle the apples and fresh mint. Add the Calvados, elderflower liqueur, lime juice and apple juice. Add some ice, shake well and serve.
• Serve over the rocks in a wine glass. Garnish with a slice of green apple and sprig of fresh mint.

BRIOCHE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour sugar and salt. Make a well in center of the bowl and mix in the eggs and yeast mixture. Beat well until the dough has pulled together, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.
• Flatten the dough and spread it with one third of the butter. Knead this well. Repeat this twice to incorporate the remaining butter. Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes between additions of butter. This process may take 20 minutes or so. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Deflate the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. It needs time to chill in order to become more workable.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, form into loaves and place into prepared pans. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, about 60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans (see Cook's Note to make rolls). Beat the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water to make a glaze.
• Brush the loaves or rolls with the egg wash. Bake in preheated oven until a deep golden brown. Start checking the loaves for doneness after 25 minutes, and rolls at 10 minutes. Let the loaves cool in the pans for 10 minutes before moving them to wire racks to cool completely.

BEST BRIOCHE FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Whisk milk, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl.
• Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, dip each slice of brioche bread in the egg mixture and cook in the hot butter until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side, adding more butter as needed. Transfer French toast to a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until puffed, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Cook and stir 1/4 cup butter in a skillet over medium-low heat until browned and toasty, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer browned butter to a cold dish. Drizzle browned butter over baked French toast and top each slice with 1 tablespoon maple syrup.

BRIOCHE LOAF

Steps:

• Combine warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl. Set aside to activate the yeast, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Place 4 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, yeast mixture, warm milk, eggs, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until dough starts to come together. Mix in honey, then little pats of butter, along with remaining flour; knead until it comes together in a soft, tacky dough.
• Dump dough onto a floured work surface and cut into 2 even pieces. Form into balls and place in separate oiled bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and place somewhere warm until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Dump dough onto a work surface. Lightly punch down and knead for a few seconds. Form the balls into loaf shapes and place seam-side down in greased 8x4-inch loaf pans. Lightly cover the pans with a lint-free kitchen towel and let rise until dough comes to the top of the pans, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix egg and milk together to make an egg wash.
• Lightly brush the top of the risen loaves with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven until deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.