Brioche for breakfast
Picture by Sandrine, Little Berries & co
Two weeks ago I had the chance to welcome home a food styling and photography workshop, created by two talented bloggers, Ophélie and Sandrine. This kind of workshop was really new to me and I must admit kind of abstract in my mind. I was therefore thrilled to be behind the scene of that day. During the workshop, I was cooking while Sandrine and Opéhlie were practicing and giving very concrete photography tricks to a lovely group of ladies, styling and shooting the food I'd prepared (and eating of course at the end!). And never before my food looked so beautiful and yummy than in their hands.
To welcome the girls I had prepared a breakfast with homemade french treats : gaufres, cannelés (the recipe is on Sandrine's blog here) and brioche that I'm sharing with you today.
Brioche is not so complicated to make but few details are really important :
1/ start your brioche the day before, it needs to stay one night in the fridge.
2/Use very cold butter
3/ be (very) patient....
Picture by Sandrine, Little Berries & co
Market check list (I use a scale to make it precise):
- 250 gr of flour (the best is T45 but it works with other types of flour)
- 30 gr of sugar
- 5 gr of salt
- 1 packet of instant yeast (5 gr)
- 15 gr of milk
- 150 gr of eggs (3 eggs)
- 200 gr of cold butter
Mix together all the dry ingredients with your robbot, or if like me you don't have one, using a hand mixer equiped with dough hooks: flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
Add the milk keeping on whisking and after 5 minutes add the eggs one by one. When they're well incorporated add the cold butter cuted in small cubes little by little, adding some more when the previous batch is well absorbed.
At this stage the dough is really elastic and super sticky but don't be scared this is normal. Keep on whisking until the dough gets a little bit less sticky and can detach from the bowl. With my hand mixer it takes about 15 minutes (yes it can seem so long...).
The dough is now ready but you need to be patient! Place it in bowl covered with a humid kitchen towel for 1 hour. The dough is supposed to rise a little, but if it's winter and cold it's going to be more difficult. In that case you can put your dough close to a heater or in the oven at 100°F (40°C). After 1 hour reflate the dough with a pastry roll on some flour (it's still sticky and elastic). Make a ball and wrape it on a plastic film. Let it in the fridge for 1 night.
In the morning, reflate your dough again (on flour) and give it the shape you want: you can split it in 3 draughts that you braid. Or you can just make 3 balls that you place in a long cake mold (don't forget to put parchment in your mold). Let the daugh finally rise for 2 hours and brush the top of your brioche with a yolk. Bake for about 45 min at 350°F (180°C).
Photo by Ophélie, Ophelie's Kitchen Book
If you want to discover other pictures and recipes of that yummy day:
- Pavlova recipe is on Sandrine's blog here
- Peas and fresh goat cheese toast is on Ophélie's blog here
New workshops are already planned, including 2 days workshops in amazing places outside of Paris (more info here and here).
Thank you Ophélie and Sandrine for including me to this amazing day and for your beautiful pictures. And thank you to our lovely group of participants!
