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Siberian Brioche
This month’s recipe starts off with me sitting in a Moscow airport. My government has been gracious enough to pay for this excursion, and all I have to do in return is help the Russians learn how to make money.
Secretly, I’m hoping the Motherland will view me as a culinary rock star that will merit a bouquet of groupies. While I wait for my interpreter to arrive, I notice on TV that the Catholic Church has sent the hand of John the Baptist to the nation’s capitol a day ahead of me.
Realizing that most of my potential fan base would be at Christ the Savior Cathedral, and any attention I might receive would probably come from a heathen, I locked my fantasies into a mental warehouse and returned my focus to the business at hand.
It was explained to me that Russians have always looked to France as status mentors. For over a century, Russian nobles spoke in French to differentiate themselves from the peasants, so I’ll start with a bread from France — Brioche.
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SPONGE
When Marie Antoinette pissed off the mob with the declaration “let them eat cake,” this comment had nothing to do with pastries. In fact, the translation of cake should read as brioche. Basically, the commoners didn’t think it was fair that the regal clique was entitled to better product on a daily basis.
There may be more versions of Brioche than any other bread. Usually, the differences are predicated by butter levels. When I teach baking formulations, I find pounds and ounces to be the easiest language. Numbers never lie. Cups and teaspoons are a matter of perception — some people will measure their dry ingredients flush, while others will always have a berm protruding from their receptacle.
My primary project site was a restaurant named Versailles, which was located in the wasteland of the Asiatic Arctic. Assisting me was a wonderful baker by the name of Hanum, who lived in the diamond harvesting town of Aihal and had more gold teeth than a rapper and a point guard combined.
Let’s get started. If you are using a Kitchen Aid mixer, attach your paddle and weigh 10 ounces of bread flour. If you’re networked and have access to Canadian wheat, that would really push this masterpiece over the top.
Next, we’ll scale off (measure) our wet ingredients; 8 ounces of milk, and 3 ounces of honey. Then, we’ll activate 2 ounces of yeast by throwing it into this liquid and stirring it together.
Our upright mixer was broken on my first day of production, so just like grandma, we had to resort to a bowl and whisk. When the above ingredients become incorporated, the contents should resemble a frothing pancake batter.
Gently pour the batter into a lightly greased bucket, and cover with a plastic tarp or dish towel. If your baking space is hot, you’ll want to retard the sponge’s development by placing it in your fridge. As you can imagine, it’s rather cold in the Asiatic Arctic, so we’ll do the opposite and put the sponge next to a radiator, furnace or even inside your oven while it’s turned off.
Whichever strategy you employ, you’ll want to remember that 90 minutes is an ideal fermentation time.
In the corner of the Russian bakery was a small radio. Surprisingly, most of the music was in English, and when Madonna’s Ray of Light came on, the crew was proud to have the interpreter tell me Madonna would be touring Moscow in August.
When I responded that everyone in America had already slept with her so we didn’t really need her anymore, all the bakers laughed. I had achieved international kitchen acceptance.
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REMIX
Now, we’ll take our sponge and throw it into the mixing bowl.
Scale off 2 pounds and 4 ounces of bread flour, and toss that in. Next, add 1 pound, 2 ounces of eggs (whites and yolks), and start mixing.
When the ingredients start to form a mass, I’ll include 4 ounces of sugar, and 1 ounce of salt. I held this out at first because as the kneading began, I wanted the gluten to start forming — sugar and salt should always be considered enemies of yeast. When we hold them back as long as possible, we allow the dough “autolyse.”
This is an old world concept that is very popular amongst artesian bread bakers. It gives our yeast extra time to collect moisture, which will in turn cut down your kneading time and produce a lighter loaf.
Our final step of the mixing process will be to take 8 ounces of unsalted butter and blend it in until well-incorporated. Tiny bubbles will form as the dough reaches it’s completion, so when you hear a popping sound, place it on the table for 20 minutes, returning to form the dough into whatever shape you desire.
After the loaf is proofed, you’ll want to place it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. Obviously, your bake time will be determined by the size of your product, but in my convection oven, a roll usually takes 8 minutes.
Traditionally, Brioche is rolled into a 4 ounce ball and placed in a fluted pan. The purist will roll a second, 1 ounce ball and attach it to the top.
I, on the other hand, forgo the nipple and replace it with black sesame seeds. In Asia this is a staple ingredient, and not only will it add great texture to your bun, but the color of the seeds add a great visual contrast to the yellow crumbwall.
Okay, comrade, my e-mail is listed below, so if you have any questions, you know where to find me.
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