Monday, July 16, 2007

Brioche


The photo doesn't do this justice --- the flash washed out the bread --- but trust me, buy Baking with Julia and try this recipe!

Yours, glowing,
N.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay okay okay, I'm going to buy this book after payday.

Question - I thought I read somewhere that you use a heavy duty mixer. Is that a total must nowadays? I'm hoping to get one for my birthday or Christmas, but in the meantime all my bread making has been done with the "arm-strong mixer".

Michele said...

Oh, it looks glorious and I imagine that it smells even more so. Please say it does or did smell heavenly?

Okay, since you asked I will be right over for some bread and cup of tea, if you don't mind.

What? You did not ask? Oh, fine! Be that way...

Speaking of ways: you have a wonderful way of offering comments on other blogs that make me (and I am certain many other people) smile. Your comment on the "post of the week," was very kind. Thank you simply for being you.

BreadBox said...

~a~ --- the way to do it is to join the Good Cook book club (or whatever the book of the month club for cookery is called) and get it and another book or two for a penny a piece, and then satisfy your obligations with the cheapest books that you want at their full price.
And first, check your local library to see if they have a copy, borrow it for a couple of weeks and bake like crazy to see if you like it!


A heavy duty mixer is a boon, but there is a simple alternative: a danish brotpick, or dough whisk, which King Arthur Flour will sell you for under $10. And it works really well with a strong arm --- I use it about half the time I make dough (even for brioche occasionally)! And you can get some yeast in the same order (about $6 per pound, versus a ton more than that in the grocery store!) and save some money.

I use a kitchen aid professional model -- we burn out about one a year in our house, between LOML and me.

N.

BreadBox said...

Michele: the smell was heavenly, for most of the day Saturday and Sunday --- brioche in the morning, bread in the afternoon, ratatoulli and bourguignonne in the afternoon --- then yeast in the morning, toasted brioche, then bread in the afternoon. The house smelled dangerously like a day or two of overconsumption.

The toast this afternoon when I got home from work was the best toast I have had in several years.

Kids... they amaze me:-)

And as for ways, any time you're down thisaways, let me know.

And as for my comments, I hate to comment if I don't have something to say -- but if I have something to say, I don't want someone to hate to read it!

N.

~A~ said...

Yeah, I can see me going through mixers fast too. That's why I've been hesitant in getting a good one. That and I'm so Scottish that as long as my arms still work, why spend the money. :)

But the dough whisk, that I can see me using all the time. Infact, I'll go up this weekend and see if that kitchen store has any. Actually I'll call first.

BreadBox said...

I am not completely sold on the KA machines --- in fact, LOML insists that when this one goes, we're not getting another one (my view is that if they send us a replacement for free I'll take it....) I am still not sure which machine we'd go for if we were buying a new one...

I'll be surprised if your store stocks the dough whisk (check out King Arthur to see a picture so that you know what you are looking for).


N.

ps I like the fact that you are trying to support a local business rather than buying online. Good for you, and good for your community!

Anonymous said...

If that's washed out I can't imagine the real deal! :) Freshly baked bread is a luxury that I rarely get to enjoy here, but you have made me want some now..I'm getting hungry just looking at your blog!

Michele sent me here to drool today :)

BreadBox said...

Stephanie: the real deal was pretty darn good:-) But the brioche was not as good as the bread the kids made. I used a slight trick to make their bread extra special: I had a batch of dough I'd made the previous day, and I reserved a couple of cups or so of that: left it to over-rise overnight on the counter, and then broke it into small pieces and distributed it amongst the kids batches: I'd say that they each got a half cup or so of old dough. This just makes the flavour of the bread sing: Pavarotti style, Nessun Dorma.

N.