Almond Custard Buns

These were inspired by one of my favorite German treats: Bienenstich (http://rhid-baked.blogspot.com/2007/07/bienenstich-bee-sting.html). Instead of making it a slice I simply made individual buns. These are both milky and crunchy with a touch of honey for sweetness.

Ingredients: Basic Brioche Dough (use half the dough for this recipe. Make sure to make the whole batch though – as yeast dough is really hard to make in different quantities).
2 packets of active dry yeast
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch milk
3.75 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
3 eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature (but still slightly firm) cut into 2 Tbs pieces

Ingredients: Filling (the custard is good for using the whole brioche recipe – it makes a lot)

80g custard powder

500mL full fat milk

250mL whipping cream

100g sugar

3.5 Tbs. butter cut into small bits

Ingredients: Topping
100g chopped almonds
100g butter
50g sugar
1.5 tsp. honey
1.5 Tbs. whipping cream

Method: Brioche
1. Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved.

2. Add the flour and salt, and fit the mixer with a dough hook.

3. Put a tea towel over the mixer (to prevent the flour from covering everything when you mix it).

4. Turn the mixer on and off for a few short pulses, then remove the towel.

5. Increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for 1 - 2mins, just until the flour is moistened.

6. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar.

7. Increase the speed to medium and beat for around 3 min, until the dough makes a ball.

8. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2 Tbs sized chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next piece. The dough will soft, and more like a batter then a conventional dough at this stage.

9. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl (around 10 min).

10. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40min.

11. Pick the dough up from the sides, and let it fall back down into the bowl with a slap.

12. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Every 30min for the next 2 hours, slap the dough down in the bowl.
13. Leave the dough in the fridge overnight.

Method: Filling

1.In a saucepan add the custard powder and a little of the milk. Stir to blend in making sure there are no lumps.

2. Add the rest of the milk and add the cream and 100g sugar. Stir well to incorporate.

3. Put the heat of the stove top onto medium-high and with a whisk stir the custard mixture until it becomes thick (the whisk should leave visible gouges in the custard).

4. Take the saucepan off the stovetop and add one piece of butter at a time, making sure to combine the butter well before adding another piece.

5. Leave the custard mixture to cool down to room temp (periodically whisk it to make sure it doesn’t form a skin).

Method: Topping
1. In a medium pan, over medium-low heat combine the sugar, butter, honey and cream.

2.Stir and wait for the mixture to boil.

3.Once it has boiled stir in the almonds.

4.Take off the heat, and allow to cool down (10min).

Method: Assembly
1. Line a two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.Using half the chilled dough, roll it out into a rectangle on a floured bench top (12” X 16”).

3. Spread half the custard onto the dough leaving 1 inch spare around the edges.

4. Sprinkle on a handful of almonds – crunching them in your palms as you do so.

5. Roll the dough from one of the smallest edges towards the other. Roll as tightly as you can.

6. Here you can wrap the tightly rolled rounds in plastic wrap and freeze for later use (to use frozen, defrost overnight in the fridge then take them out and let them rise for around 1.5 hours and bake as directed below).

7. With a sharp knife trim the dough at the ends. Cut the log into 1 inch pieces.

8. Place on the lined baking sheets making sure to leave room around each.

9. Place 1 Tbs. of the topping on each round.

10. Lightly cover the rounds with wax paper and set the baking sheets in a warm place to rise for 1.5 hours.

11. Heat the oven to 375F.

12. Bake for 25 min (they are done when they are puffed, and a light brown).

Dough taken from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from my home to yours" and topping from "German Baking Today" by Dr. Oetker pp.134-6.

Brioche Custard Snails

I love this dough – it’s rich, smooth and wonderfully buttery. This is a lot of work to make, and unless you have arms of steel I would recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe.

These snails are lovely. The rich dough is wound around a dense custard and sprinkled with rum soaked sultanas (raisins).

Ingredients: Basic Brioche Dough (use half the dough for this recipe. Make sure to make the whole batch though – as yeast dough is really hard to make in different quantities).

2 packets of active dry yeast

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch milk

3.75 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

3 eggs at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature (but still slightly firm) cut into 2 Tbs pieces

Ingredients: Filling (the custard is good for using the whole brioche recipe – it makes a lot)
80g custard powder
500mL full fat milk
250mL whipping cream
100g sugar (and 1.5 tsp sugar separately)
3.5 Tbs. butter cut into small bits1 cup plump raisins
3 Tbs. dark rum
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

Method: Brioche

1. Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved.

2. Add the flour and salt, and fit the mixer with a dough hook.

3. Put a tea towel over the mixer (to prevent the flour from covering everything when you mix it).

4. Turn the mixer on and off for a few short pulses, then remove the towel.

5. Increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for 1 - 2mins, just until the flour is moistened.

6. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar.

7. Increase the speed to medium and beat for around 3 min, until the dough makes a ball.

8. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2 Tbs sized chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next piece. The dough will soft, and more like a batter then a conventional dough at this stage.

9. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl (around 10 min).

10. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40min.

11. Pick the dough up from the sides, and let it fall back down into the bowl with a slap.

12. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Every 30min for the next 2 hours, slap the dough down in the bowl.

13. Leave the dough in the fridge overnight.

Method: Filling
1.In a saucepan add the custard powder and a little of the milk. Stir to blend in making sure there are no lumps.

2. Add the rest of the milk and add the cream and 100g sugar. Stir well to incorporate.

3. Put the heat of the stove top onto medium-high and with a whisk stir the custard mixture until it becomes thick (the whisk should leave visible gouges in the custard).

4. Take the saucepan off the stovetop and add one piece of butter at a time, making sure to combine the butter well before adding another piece.

5. Leave the custard mixture to cool down to room temp (periodically whisk it to make sure it doesn’t form a skin).

6. In a small saucepan soak the raisins in hot water for 4 min.

7. Drain them, and then place them back in the saucepan. Warm them over low heat until they become quite hot (stir constantly).

8. When they are hot, take them off the stove and pour over the rum.

9. Stand back and ignite the rum. Wait until the flames die out and then cover the raisins with a lid.

10. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

Method: Assembly
1. Line a two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.Using half the chilled dough, roll it out into a rectangle on a floured bench top (12” X 16”).

3. Spread half the custard onto the dough leaving 1 inch spare around the edges.

4. Sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar.

5. Sprinkle on the raisins.

6. Roll the dough from one of the smallest edges towards the other. Roll as tightly as you can.

7. Here you can wrap the tightly rolled snails in plastic wrap and freeze for later use (to use frozen, defrost overnight in the fridge then take them out and let them rise for around 1.5 hours and bake as directed below).

8. With a sharp knife trim the dough at the ends. Cut the log into 1 inch pieces.

9. Place on the lined baking sheets making sure to leave room around each snail.

10. Lightly cover the snails with wax paper and set the baking sheets in a warm place to rise for 1.5 hours.

11. Heat the oven to 375F.

12. Bake for 25 min (they are done when they are puffed, and a light brown).

Dough and raisins taken from the stunning Dorie Greenspans's book "Baking from my home to yours" pp. 56-7, 48-50.

Experiments with Brioche: Jam Buns

A slightly sweet, deeply rich bun. It can be made with or without the icing.
I used around 1/2 the brioche dough. I baked half of the and then froze the other half. They will keep for 2 months tightly wrapped in the freezer. Defrost overnight, and then treat as you would normally (30 min rising time, and then bake).
Ingredients
1/2 brioche dough
2 Tbs raspberry jam
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp water
Method
1. On a lightly floured bench, roll out brioche dough into a rectangle roughly 16 x 12 inches, with the narrow edge towards you.
2. Spread the jam evenly over the dough, leaving a couple of cm (1 inch) spare around the edge farthest from you.
3. Roll the dough from the edge closest to you, to the edge farthest away from you. Making sure that the roll is tight.
4. Using a sharp knife cut the jam log into 1 inch rolls, and place on the baking sheet. At this stage you can tightly wrap the log with glad wrap and place in the freezer - it keeps for around 2 months.
5. Preheat the oven to 375F.
6. Allow the buns to rise for 30 min.
7. Bake for around 20-25 min. Make sure at around half way through baking, you rotate the baking sheet, for even baking.
8. Place on a cooling rack to cool.
9. Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and add the 1 tsp of water. Stir until combined, and drizzle on top of the rolls.

Experiments with Brioche: Nectarine and Brandy Tart

This is made using around 1/3 of the brioche dough. It makes a wonderful, crispy tart. The nectarines are not fully bakes, and so they are soft fleshed, but hold their shape. The brandy adds a bit of zest, to an otherwise plain tart.

Ingredients
1/3 of Brioche dough (see Experiments with Brioche: Dinner Rolls.

1 large fresh nectarine, washed and cut into slices

1 Tbs. brandy

2 Tbs demera sugar

1-2 Tbs apricot jam

Method

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.. Roll out 1/3 of the dough into a circle.

3. Combine the nectarine pieces, sugar and rum in a small bowl.

4. Smear the bottom of the dough with apricot jam.

5. Place the nectarine pieces in the center.

6. Roll the edges of the dough inwards, to form a crust.

7. Preheat the oven to 375F.

8. Allow the dough to rise for 30 min in a warm place.

9. Bake for 20-25 min, or until the crust is a golden brown and the jam is bubbling.

10. Place on a cooling rack.
11. Serve by itself or with whipped cream, or ice cream.

Experiments with Brioche: Dinner Rolls

The premise behind my experiments is that I try to do something different with brioche dough. The amount of dough I give here, in this recipe, was the same dough I used for all three recipes.
These dinner rolls are a buttery wonder. They are rich and crispy, really rather nice.
Ingredients: Basic Brioche Dough
2 packets of active dry yeast
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch milk
3.75 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
3 eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature (but still slightly firm) cut into 2 Tbs pieces
Method
1. Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved.
2. Add the flour and salt, and fit the mixer with a dough hook.
3. Put a tea towel over the mixer (to prevent the flour from covering everything when you mix it).
4. Turn the mixer on and off for a few short pulses, then remove the towel.
5. Increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for 1 - 2mins, just until the flour is moistened.
6. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar.
7. Increase the speed to medium and beat for around 3 min, until the dough makes a ball.
8. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2 Tbs sized chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next piece. The dough will soft, and more like a batter then a conventional dough at this stage.
9. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl (around 10 min).
10. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40min.
11. Pick the dough up from the sides, and let it fall back down into the bowl with a slap.
12. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Every 30min for the next 2 hours, slap the dough down in the bowl.
13. Leave the dough in the fridge overnight.
14. Use as you please.
Method: Dinner Rolls
1. Cover a baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Simply roll handfuls of the dough into balls, and place onto the baking sheet. Using a sharp knife cut a cross into the top of the rolls.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
3. Allow to rise at room temperature for 30min.
4. Bake for 15-25 min (depending on the size of the rolls). They will be baked when they are a light brown color, and when tapped sound hollow.
5. Let cool on a cooling rack.
The basic recipe for brioche is taken from Dorie Greenspans Baking From My Home To Yours, pp. 48-50.

Brioche Pluot Tart

This tart should be served on the day it is baked. You can use a number of different fruits, apricots, plums, pluots. Most stone fruits would work with this.

Ingredients: Brioche

1.5 tsp. active dry yeast

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbs. sugar

Pinch of salt

5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs at room temp.

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Ingredients: Filling

7-9 large pluots (plums or apricots would do as well, I used both pluots and plums - though pluots were the majority)

2 Tbs. coarsely chopped walnut (or other nut, but not peanut)

3 Tbs. sugar

1/4 cup jam (I used plum because I used pluots, if you use apricots, use apricot jam and so on)

Method: Brioche

1. Put the yeast and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until the yeast dissolves.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix with a dough hook on low speed for 2 min.

3. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 7-10 min (every now and then scrape down the sides of the bowl and the hook with a rubber spatula).

4. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place to rise for 30-40 min.

5. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it slap into the bowl.

6. Cover again and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours. In this time, check the dough every half hour, and slap the dough down (you want it to stop rising).

7. If you have the time, leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

Method: Filling and Assembly

1. Butter a 9 inch tart pan.

2. Press the chilled dough into the pan. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min.

3. While it is in the refrigerator prepare the filling. Cut the pluots into slices (if you have a plum or apricot the is easily removed from its pit, simple cut it in half - I find that pluots for the most part cling, and so halving is imposable).

4. Toss the chopped nuts with the sugar.

5. Remove the tart pan from the fridge and push and press the dough up the sides of the pan.

6. Spread the jam onto the dough, and then place the pluot pieces in concentric circles on top. Sprinkle the sugar and nut mix on top.

7. Place on a baking sheet and let it rise in a warm place for 30 min.

8. Meanwhile center a rack and preheat the oven to 425F.

9. Uncover the tart and bake for around 20 min (check after 15 min - you don't want it too brown).

10. Place a foil tent over the tart and bake for another 10-15min (until the fruit juices are bubbling, and the crust firm and a wonderful brown).

11. Transfer the tart to a rack to cool.

12. After 5 min remove the tart pan.

13. Serve after at least 45 min of cooling time.

Once again, the wonderful Dorie Greenspan, pp. 54-5.