Brioche Loaves

In our household, my husband is usually the one making the bread.  But, I make the brioche.  I haven't made it for a few years though and the last time I made it, I recall it being an easier experience.  Perhaps it was that I had less distractions and was not multi-tasking as much as I seem to be now. 
We bought a loaf (for $11!!) at the farmers market a few weekends ago and I told myself that I would just make it myself next time.  Now, I know why they were selling it for $11 for a small loaf. I think I would sell the loaves I made for $50 as there is a lot of patience, care and TIME that is involved in making it.  It's SOooooo worth it though.

I used the Martha Stewart brioche loaf recipe. However, her recipe didn't indicate how to form the loaves, so while I kneaded the dough, I had fun watching a few brioche fanatics on YouTube.

I made the dough the day before, let it rise a few times and then let it sit overnight. I wasn't able to get to it right away the next day so it was left all day in the refrigerator until I had time to get to it in the evening. So, it was a bit sticky, but I worked with it to see what would come of it anyway.

I made one large loaf and two smaller loaves. One with the balls of brioche dough and one where I braided it slightly.

This is before rising:

And after rising:

(with how sticky the dough is, I was happy it did!)

They baked very nicely and the internal temperature read of 205 degrees was spot on.  While my dough was not as smooth this time, I was really happy with how they turned out (and taste!).  We have had brioche toast, brioche french toast, brioche sandwiches and with the remaining loaf, I'm planning to cut it up in cubes and save it to make stuffing for Thanksgiving.  How decadent will brioche stuffing be?!

Buttery Brioche

I've always liked the flavor and look of brioche and love brioche french toast. I even just like the word and "brioche" is just such fun to say. It's said to be one of the most difficult breads to make and while it takes a while for the dough to rise and it's more work to shape the different loaves, it's not too difficult. I happened to have some of the pretty fluted molds that I've never used, so along with a guide from Fine Cooking magazine and a little time on my hands, I tackled brioche.

It is a very buttery bread with a 1/2 pound of butter. What seemed like a greasy mess while I was mixing it turned out to be a beautiful smooth and elastic dough.

After mixing all the ingredients together in the mixer, you had to knead and fold it a few times before forming it into a perfect ball to prepare it for rising.

First I let it rise at room temperature in a bowl for about an hour.

Then, I put it in the refrigerator to rise overnight, which the guide indicated would provide the best flavor.

While I let the dough come to room temperature the next day, I buttered the pretty brioche molds.

When the dough was warm, I cut the dough into sixteen (almost) equal pieces and weighed them out to try to get them as consistent in size as possible.

I first formed the dough for the small brioche tins to make brioche rolls, but I only had three of these molds. They weren't perfect, but I thought they looked quite pretty for my first try.

I then rolled out the other pieces for the large brioche mold.

I still had some dough, so I made a few little loaves as well.

Now that they were all together, it was time for them to rise again for about an hour.

After they had their final rising, I brushed on an egg wash and they were ready to bake. They only needed to bake for about 20 minutes and turned out a lovely golden brown.

We enjoyed the rolls for breakfast with jam and Audrey was calling them "cupcakes."

The loaves turned out nice as well and I made french toast for breakfast another morning. I think I'll use the large brioche mold for dinner parties for a pretty arrangement of dinner rolls that people can pluck off. This was well worth the time and has multiple uses. It would be great in a bread pudding or to use for stuffing as well.

Irish Soda Bread

I had never really heard of Irish soda bread until I became acquainted with the McLafferty family. Sean's mom always made it for St. Patrick's Day and passed her recipe onto me a few years ago. I started making it each St. Patrick's Day along with our corned beef dinner. We did confirm that corned beef dinner is not necessarily a traditional meal in Ireland for St. Patrick's Day (or any other day for that matter). They usually have a sort of boiled dinner with ham and vegetables. However, we love corned beef (and especially love the reuben sandwiches that follow) so we make it each year. I reviewed several different recipes for soda bread and tried a different one this year which has the same ingredients, but different measurements. The key ingredients are baking soda (given the name) which provides the leavening for the bread along with baking powder and raisins. I always use Sunmaid baking raisins, which I also use for my scones. Most soda bread recipes also call for including carraway seeds, but I really don't like the taste of them so I choose to leave them out.

Here is my dough that I've kneaded and formed into a round. I usually bake it on a baking stone that I grease with butter.

I melted butter to brush on top of the bread and score it with an X that allows it a natural place to crack when it bakes and also makes it easy to cut after baking.

This was how much had been eaten before we even sat down for our corned beef dinner. It was a hit, especially with Audrey. This morning, we enjoyed some leftover bread with strawberry jam.

The Best Autumn Bread

Several years ago, I found an apple bread recipe to try when I had a bunch of extra apples in the fall. We instantly loved it and it has turned out to be a family favorite. In fact, I recently cut up extra apples so I could make it for my brother this weekend as he's the one that always requests it. The recipe makes two large loaves and I often times make one large loaf and two mini ones so I can send them home with people. It always reminds me of autumn and is the best with a cup of hot cider or tea. Sugar and spice and everything nice!

Baked Camembert and Crusty Bread

We enjoyed a lovely candlelit dinner with Audrey and my cousins at my favorite pub in England – the Giant’s Rest. The Giant’s Rest (http://www.giantsrest.co.uk/) is a quaint and simple country pub with a fantastic menu with features listed on a chalkboard on the wall.
I used to study there over a glass of wine when I was going to school at Queen’s and have since had dinner there on most every visit with Sean. We started our meal with this baked camembert. It was served warm and gooey and we broke apart the bread to dip in – yum!