Front of the Brioches recipe card.
More information on Brioche from Wikipedia
The first recorded use of the word in French dates from 1404. It is attested in 1611 in Cotgrave’s A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, where it is described as “a rowle, or bunne, of spiced bread” and its origin given as Norman. A similar type of bread, called tsoureki, is also traditionally baked in Greece for the Easter weekend.
Brioche is a pastry of French origin that is similar to a highly enriched bread, and whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. It is “light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and eggs.” It has a dark, golden, and flaky crust, frequently accentuated by an egg wash applied after proofing.
Brioche is considered a Viennoiserie, in that it is made in the same basic way as bread, but has the richer aspect of a pastry because of the extra addition of eggs, butter, liquid (milk, water, cream, and, sometimes, brandy) and occasionally a bit of sugar.
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Brioches
Ingredients
Brioche dough
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 package yeast
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk scalded
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 1/4 cup flour
Glaze
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Make this recipe the night before, cover well, and place in refrigerator
- Mix butter and salt in small mixer bowl
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water
- Add other ingredients
- Allow to rise for 2 hours before baking
- Add glaze
- Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes