This past weekend my mom and I took on the task of making brioches to relieve some of the stress of lesson planning… and let me just say kneading dough is a great stress reliever! I got the recipe from the cookbook “Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well” by Pellegrino Artusi, and it was recipe number 575. This recipe called for 300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of Hungarian flour, 150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of butter, 30 grams (about 1 ounce) of brewers yeast, 20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of sugar, 5 grams (about 1/5 of an ounce) of salt, and 6 eggs. It also calls for confectioners sugar later on in the recipe, but it was not in the list of ingredients so sadly that part was left out of my baking experience.
First you mix together the yeast in warm water and mix in a quarter of the flour
Make sure to mix until well combined
Once it’s mixed together, you then knead it until it’s the “right consistency”
You then cut a cross in the top and place it in a small baking pan with a “film of flour” and set it aside to rise in a warm place (until it’s nearly double in size)
While you wait for it to rise- Place remaining flour into a bowl, making a ring. Put in the salt, sugar, and then “egg.” This is where Artusi was not the most clear in his directions. He did not specify the number of eggs to place in the circle of the flour, so I went a head and placed all 6 eggs (as pictured below). However, I found out later on that I was only suppose to place 1 egg- but the recipe still turned out fine so oh well!
flour placed in a circle
Adding salt and sugar
Adding in the egg(s)… oops!
You then begin to mix it all together using your hands
once well incorporated, you cut up the butter into small pieces and place it in the mixture
You begin by mixing the butter into the mixture using the blade of a knife
You then use your hands to finish working in the butter
You then bring out the dough that you have been letting rise. By now it should at least have doubled in size!
Next, you place the dough that has been rising into the new dough mixture you just finished making. You knead them together until both dough’s are fully combined.
Let the mixture sit in a warm unventilatedplace to rise
Once it has risen, separate it into pieces and bake. We used a mini “bread loaf” pan. Make sure to cover each section in flour to prevent sticking (this is when the recipe mentions mixing flour and confectioner’s sugar to dust the sections)
Tah-Dah! After 25 minutes in the oven on 350 degrees, we have bread! I suggest serving with jelly because they’re kind of dry. We used Blackberry jam and it was very yummy!
Overall, I am very happy with how my little bread loafs turned out and when I took them to my Italian Cuisine class on Monday to share everyone said they were yummy! So, I definitely will be making these again and totally recommend you trying to make them at home!
Child Development major and self proclaimed picky eater taking on a semester of Italian Cuisine and Culture, so let's see where this thing takes us!
View all posts by mjlee303
Meghan's Italian Cuisine Experience 