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BRIOCHE

Ingredients

500g strong (bread) flour

6-7 eggs

20g fresh yeast or 19g dry yeast

50g sugar

2tsp sea salt 

300g soft unsalted butter

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Method

 

  • Add flour, salt, sugar, yeast and mix in a machine using the hook. Make sure the yeast doesn’t touch the salt and the sugar before mixing.

 

  • Add 6 eggs, one at the time, if necessary add the last egg.

 

  • Mix well, at medium speed, until the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl anymore. (About 20mn)

 

  • Add the soft butter and mix again until it’s all incorporated.

 

  • Leave to prove, until it double in size.

 

  • Knock back and leave in the fridge at least 3h, overnight if possible.

 

  • Roll into balls for rolls or shape loaves as you would for bread. 

 

  • When they have doubled in size, brush the top with an egg wash and bake until cooked at 190°C/375°F - time depends on the size of your rolls, loaves.

 

 

 

 

 

BON APPETIT!

 

 

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HISTORY OF THE BRIOCHE

 

The Brioche appeared in the Middle Ages in Normandy France and would be a derivative of a tighter bread made until then. Among the cities formerly very famous for the quality of their brioches are Gisors and Gournay, probably because of the excellence of the butter in this region (Normandy).

 

 

 

“Let them eat cake”

The Brioche was made particularly famous by a quote from Queen Marie Antoinette and taken up by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Confessions, published in 1778: «je me rappelai le pis-aller d’une grande princesse à qui on disait que les paysans n’avaient pas de pain, et qui répondit : Qu’ils mangent de la brioche. J’achetai de la brioche.» (Livre sixième : 1736)

 

 

“I remembered the worst of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread, and answered: Let them eat brioche. However, historians doubt that this famous “great princess” is actually Marie Antoinette since she was only a child at that time and is unlikely to have made such a comment.

 

 

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The brioche has really taken off in the eighteenth century when bakeries were opened. It became very popular everywhere in France and each region has created its own recipe.

Today, the brioche is a product of everyday life but in the past it was then part of holiday cakes that were served on special occasions: baptisms, weddings, communions …

 

It is still present today in many French traditions. The best known is the “galette des rois”, in January. We place in a brioche shaped crown, a bean that will be found by one of the guests during the tasting and who will become the king (or the queen!). 

In Vendée, traditionally, a brioche is also offered to the bride and groom during the wedding party.

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