Comments on: May I Have a Little Flour with that Butter, Please?

By: Janice

Janice — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:23:55 +0000

Barbara – Are you making minis or a full-size brioche? It’s been out of the overnight fridge for 1.5 hours and it hasn’t risen at all? A full-size can take much longer, and if your refrigerator is extra cold or your room temp is very cool (being autumn and all), it could definitely take at least two hours. If your sponge got wonderfully bubbly, then you know your yeast is good, and I’m guessing patience will get you where you need to be with the dough. Good luck!

By: barbara

barbara — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:02:41 +0000

I’m doing that recipe right now (i chose it for the same reasons, hehe!!) but i’m worried about the dough might not rise. It is now at the proofing stage for almost 1H30 and it doesn’t seem any different. Do you know what i might done wrong?

thanks, Barbara

By: The Bread that Almost Made Me a Vegetarian « Round the Table

The Bread that Almost Made Me a Vegetarian « Round the Table — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:36:09 +0000

[...] it. I even used low -fat milk in it. Every bite disappeared. I think I liked it better than Middle-Class Brioche, to tell you the truth. Then, just for old time’s sake, I made Spaccatini (tiny cleft rolls) [...]

By: Maris

Maris — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:22:16 +0000

LOL to your response at giving some of your bread away. I always give mine away, if I didn’t I would eat it myself and be 400 pounds!

By: roundthetable

roundthetable — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:37:54 +0000

Thanks! Yes, the lean breads obviously have my heart, as well. Our time will come. Thank god for ciabatta and the fact that its name starts with a “C!” – Janice

By: roundthetable

roundthetable — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:28:18 +0000

Thanks, Laura, for dropping in with those tips! I’ll take all the learnin’ I can from you. 16 months of daily bread-making is a lot of experience you are bringing to this endeavor! And readers, if you haven’t seen her brioche a tete photos, visit her blog to see what perfection looks like. – Janice

By: roundthetable

roundthetable — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:22:44 +0000

Thank you, Allen! Yes, there’s always next time. If I do brioche again (during this year of BBA) it will be to make some rockin’ buns for a burger party and a filled breakfast/dessert loaf like you did. – Janice

By: roundthetable

roundthetable — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:19:06 +0000

Thanks Jenn! Your mom must have been one happy woman! – Janice

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:53:40 +0000

Janice,
thanks for stopping by my blog.

Shaping brioche, or bread for that matter, is something that takes much practice. I too had some brioche that looked really bad but I didn’t include them in the shots. I have made bread daily for 16 months at one restaurant where I worked and that was an amazing experience.

In general the tighter the final shape the better, for all bread, so the dough is balanced and won’t grow into a monstrous piece. So I rolled the dough really tight like I would if I were shaping a roll, then I pressed the dough like Nicole did (check her website for pictures). I tried Peter’s method of passing the head (tete), into a hole you make in the bottom part. It worked better than adding a separate piece of dough on the top, which most often results in th head falling on the side.

Rich man brioche is really hard to shape because the butter melts as you handle the dough so the dough sticks to your hands. It needs to be super cold and you will need extra flour to handle it.

I hope this helped.

By: Allen

Allen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:19:22 +0000

That’s some beautiful looking brioche! I wish I had tried making the smaller tete shapes … there’s always next time, right?