French and Fabulous in My Kitchen

There is a reason we pop down to the patisserie for our delicious homemade brioche.

It's simple. 

Few of us have the 15 plus hours it takes to produce these delicious treats.  That said, I decided to try my hand at making brioche.  I have been baking breads intermittently with some success (and a few failures) since I was a teenager, so I'm not afraid of working with yeast.  I particularly like yeasty beer, but that's another post.

Like most kitchen endeavors, baking yeast breads requires patience and practice, plus the willingness to fail.

The recipe I used came from Gourmet's cookbook.  It's not particularly complicated, just all time-consuming. You don't really need a Kitchen Aid mixer (but it's a darn sight easier) nor do you need the special brioche tins (you can use your muffin pan), but the fancy fluted tins give your finished product that certain Je ne sai quois that marks it as French and fabulous.

Two things to remember: do not over-knead the dough at the end or the outcome will be tough and know how hot your oven burns.  I forgot my oven runs hot, so I baked my brioche too long. 

Translation: I almost burned them. They were not a complete toss-away, but nor would I serve them to anyone other than myself and the kid. 

I like a perfect product every time. Who doesn't?  I did not achieve perfection this time, so I have something to strive for.  However, the 15 plus hours puttering around the kitchen and house (sleeping too) was well worth the experience and certainly worth a future repeat.