Brioche Au Rhum Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour sugar and salt. Make a well in center of the bowl and mix in the eggs and yeast mixture. Beat well until the dough has pulled together, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.
• Flatten the dough and spread it with one third of the butter. Knead this well. Repeat this twice to incorporate the remaining butter. Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes between additions of butter. This process may take 20 minutes or so. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Deflate the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. It needs time to chill in order to become more workable.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, form into loaves and place into prepared pans. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, about 60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans (see Cook's Note to make rolls). Beat the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water to make a glaze.
• Brush the loaves or rolls with the egg wash. Bake in preheated oven until a deep golden brown. Start checking the loaves for doneness after 25 minutes, and rolls at 10 minutes. Let the loaves cool in the pans for 10 minutes before moving them to wire racks to cool completely.

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: Put yeast and sugar in a medium bowl and stir in ¼ cup lukewarm water. Leave for 10 minutes, until mixture is bubbly. Add eggs and salt to the yeast mixture, and whisk together.
• In a medium mixing bowl, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the egg-yeast mixture and drained raisins, and beat with a wooden spoon, mixing well to make a soft, sticky dough. (Alternatively, prepare the dough in a stand mixer.) Cover bowl and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Butter 2 mini-muffin tins or 12 mini ramekins. Uncover dough, dust lightly with flour and turn out onto a clean work surface. Add flour as necessary to make dough manageable and knead lightly to make a large, slightly sticky ball. Cut the dough into 12 pieces of equal size (about 2 ounces/55 grams). Dust each with flour, roll each into a ball and place in muffin tins or ramekins. Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup: Put honey, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and orange zest in a medium saucepan. Add 1 1/2 cups/360 milliliters water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Lower heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla and rum, turn off heat and let syrup cool to room temperature.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake babas until lightly browned on top, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn babas out of their molds and onto a baking sheet, and return to the oven for 5 minutes to brown all over, as necessary. Remove and cover babas with a clean towel to keep them soft. (Store, cooled, in an airtight container at room temperature if making in advance.)
• About 2 hours before serving, place babas, top-side down, in a deep baking dish. Pour syrup over and let soak. Turn babas over a few times in syrup - they should get quite soggy.
• Prepare the whipped cream: With a whisk, hand-held beaters or in a stand mixer, whip cream to very soft peaks. Add sugar and whip lightly, leaving mixture soft.
• To serve, place one or two babas in a low soup plate. Spoon over a little more syrup, and splash on about a tablespoon of rum. Serve a big spoonful of whipped cream on the side. If desired, garnish with a strip of orange zest, plucked from the syrup.

Steps:

• Put the flour in a bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the salt to one side and sugar to the other. Pour in the yeast to the side with the sugar. Mix each side into the flour with your hands, then mix it all together with the dough hook.
• Heat the milk until warm to the touch, but not hot. Mix into the flour mix until combined. With the dough hook on medium, gradually add the eggs and mix for 10 mins.
• Gradually add the softened butter, one or two cubes at a time, until combined. This will take 5-8 mins. Scrape down the sides, the dough will be very soft.
• Scrape the dough into a large bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave for 1 hr 30 mins-2 hrs until doubled in size and well-risen. Once risen, put in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Line the bottom and sides of a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment. Portion the dough into seven equal pieces (the easiest way to do this accurately is to weigh it). Lightly dust a work surface with flour, take a piece of dough and pull each corner into the middle to form a circular shape. With a bit of pressure, push down and roll into ball. Repeat with the six remaining pieces.
• Put the balls into the tin, four on one side and three in the gaps on the other side. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 30-35 mins until almost doubled in size. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly brush the dough with the egg wash and bake for 30-35 mins until golden and risen. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 mins, then remove and cool completely.

Steps:

• Place milk and yeast in a small bowl; stir to dissolve.
• Place flour, salt, and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment; add yeast mixture and mix on low speed to combine and knead, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula; knead on medium speed until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar. Add a few small pieces of butter mixture to dough; with the mixer on low, add remaining butter mixture, a little bit at a time. When all the butter mixture has been added, increase speed and continue mixing until smooth, shiny, comes away from the sides of the bowl, and is elastic, 6 to 10 minutes.
• Butter a large bowl, transfer dough to prepared bowl, and cover with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Lift dough from bowl and drop back into bowl to deflate; repeat process once or twice. Cover bowl and transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 8 hours and up to overnight.
• Butter 16 mini brioche molds measuring 3 1/2 inches across tops and 2 inches across bottoms. Place on a baking sheet. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces, each about 2 1/2 ounces. Cut 1/2-ounce pieces from each piece of dough and set aside.
• Shape large pieces into balls and place one piece in bottom of each mold. Press two fingers into the centers to make deep indentations. Shape small pieces of dough into balls and roll them at an angle into an elongated oval. Lightly flour a finger and gently press narrow ends of ovals into indentations in the large balls so that only top parts are left visible.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and milk. Brush dough with egg yolk mixture, reserving remaining. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray; cover dough, cooking spray-side down and let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees (if using a convection oven; 425 degrees on a conventional oven).
• Working from the outside inward, brush each brioche very lightly with reserved egg yolk mixture. Using a pair of very sharp scissors make four to five 1 1/4-inch deep cuts around the large pieces of dough. Transfer molds to oven and bake until brioche just begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees (on a convection oven; 375 degrees on a conventional oven) and continue baking until deep golden-brown and internal temperature reaches 205 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 10 minutes more.
• Remove from oven and let brioche cool in mold for 5 minutes. Unmold onto a wire rack and let cool completely.