The directions I give you are those which were always followed in the pastry kitchen at the old New York Ritz, except that I have translated grams and kilos into cups and teaspoons to accommodate those of you who have no scales.
I am aware that a recipe for the basic brioche appeared in GOURMET in January, but I must repeat it here, along with my special hints, since this recipe is the base for so many others.
Brioche
Dissolve 1 yeast cake in ½ cup lukewarm water, or 1 envelope of active dry yeast in slightly warm but not hot water, and combine this liquid with 1 cup flour to make a ball of dough, Cut a cross on the top of the ball to encourage it to swell and drop the ball into a deep bowl filled with warm water. When the ball rises to the surface. it is ready to mix with the other ingredients.
Meanwhile, mix and sift into a very large bowl 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour and into it drop 4 eggs. Mix the eggs into the flour (chefs use their hands for this operation) and work the dough by raising it and slapping it against the sides of the bowl until it becomes elastic—that is, until it develops what is culled du corps, or body, and changes from a limp mass to a springy ball of dough. Work in 2 more eggs, one at a time. Knead ½ pound butter well with the hands to remove any water in it and to soften it. Work the butter into the dough and add ¼ to ½ cup milk, or just enough to make a rather soft dough.
When the ball of sponge has risen to the surface of the water, add it to the dough in the bowl, cutting and folding it in. Working the dough into a large ball, sprinkle it lightly with flour and cover it with a towel. Leave it at room temperature for 2 or 3 hours. When the dough is double in bulk, punch it down, pull in the edges, punch them into the center with the fist and shape the dough into a ball again. Sprinkle it lightly with flour, cover it and put it in a cool place overnight, or for 6 or 7 hours. Dough as rich in butter as this would be difficult to shape if it were allowed to rise in a warm place.
Punch down the dough again and half fill round molds, small or large, with it. Fluted molds are the most usual. On a cross in the lop and crown the brioche with a smaller ball or head. The brioche may also be baked in a ring mold, or in a loaf pan with a twisted strip of dough for a topping. Let the brioche rise in a warm place for 15 to 30 minutes, until it has increased in bulk by one-third. Brush it with a dorure, a mixture made of 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk. Apply this glaze very lightly and carefully with a pastry brush so as not to disturb the risen dough. Hake the brioche in a hot oven (450° F.) for 15 to 20 minutes depending upon the size, until it is well browned. Test with a skewer. If the skewer comes out clean the brioche is done.
To make a brioche ring, roll about half the dough into a long piece (like shaping dough for French bread) and form it into a ring on a buttered baking sheet, joining the two ends together. Let the ring rise in a warm place until it has increased one-third in bulk and brush it with dorure. With scissors, clip evenly and diagonally all the way around the ring to make a crisscross pattern. Bake the ring at once in a hot oven (450° F.) for about 15 minutes.
Petits Pains an Lait
Dissolve 1 cake Of envelope of yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water and combine the liquid with ½ cup flour. Form this dough into a ball, cut a cross on the top and drop the ball into a deep bowl Filled with warm water. When the sponge rises to the surface it will be ready to mix with the other ingredients. Into a bowl sift 1 ½ cups Hour with ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Knead ¼ pound butter to remove any water in it and to soften it. Heat 1 cup milk to lukewarm. Add the butter and some of the milk to the flour and work the dough with the hands until it is clastic, adding enough milk to make a rather soft dough. When the sponge rises to the surface of the water, add it to the dough in the bowl. cutting and folding it in. Working the mixture at this point would destroy its elasticity. Pull the dough together into a ball, cover it with a towel and let it rise until double in bulk. Turn it out on a hoard and punch it down, pulling the edges into the center and making a large ball. Divide the dough into pieces about as large as walnuts. Roll each ball on a floured board to make small thumb-sized rolls and arrange the rolls on a buttered baking sheet. Put the sheet in a warm place and let the rolls rise until double in bulk. Brush them with dorure and bake them in a very hot oven (450° F.) until they are brown.
Pâte à Kugelhoff
Dissolve 1 cake or envelope of yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water, add ½ cup flour and form the dough into a ball. Sift over this ball 1 ½ cups flour and let the dough stand in a warm place until the ball of sponge rises up through the flour. Then work in 2 eggs, 1/3 cup butter, kneaded to remove the water and to soften it, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar and about 1 cup warm milk, or enough to make a soft dough. Work the dough until it is elastic. Add ¼ pound seedless California or Malaga raisins. Butter an 8or 9-inch Kugelboff mold — a fluted, round cake tin with a tube in the center—sprinkle the sides with chopped blanched almonds and decorate the bottom with almond halves. Put the dough in the mold (the mold should be only about half full) and leave it in a warm place to rise. When the dough rises almost to the tup of the mold, bake the cake in a hot oven (400° F.) for about 40 to 45 minutes, until it is nicely browned and tests done.
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