BBA Slow & Steady #4: Brioche Roundup

The next bread in the Bread Baker's Bread Baker's Apprentice is Brioche. Peter Reinhart gives a choice of three versions: Rich Man's, Middle Class, and Poor Man's, the main difference being the amount of butter. Well, none of our Slow and Steady group of bakers was feeling too impecunious, as we all managed at least the Middle Class, if not the Rich Man's (or, in Kayte's case, all three!). Hey, even though times are tough at least our bread can be rich, right?

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Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen hummed the Hall & Oates song "Rich Girl" as she whipped up beautiful brioche a tetes (pictured up top) from the Rich Man's version of the recipe. She decided they had a similar taste to croissants, only better than the best croissants she's ever had - that's a ringing endorsement, if you ask me! Her post: BBA SOS: Rich Man's Brioche

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Sarah of Blue Ridge Baker found the Middle Class Brioche "fun and easy" - she kept it natural by replacing the sugar with agave. The results were so good, Sarah is sure she'll make brioche again. Read about it on her post: BBA Challenge: Brioche.

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Audrey of Food From Books was fascinated to see that the very heavy buttery dough of the Middle Class Brioche turned into a delicate (and buttery) bread. Audrey's a bit of an old hand in the brioche department; in her view this recipe stacks up favorably to previous brioche loaves she has made. Check out her post, Bread Baker's Apprentice #4: Brioche, and read this week's lessons learned.

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Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table made all three types of brioche, in loaf form so that she could compare and contrast with accuracy. Read her post: BBA Challenge: Brioche to see her great side-by-side comparison of the appearance and taste of each. I think they all look pretty amazing!

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Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook calls her post "Fun with brioche" and Di really did have fun with making her brioche into a stunning coffeecake, with cream cheese filling and raspberry fruit butter. Great job, Di!

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Melissa of From Laptop to Stovetop turned her brioche - the middle class variation - into delicious and versatile buns, which she's been doling out from her freezer. Now there's a girl after my own heart - gotta love the power of the freezer! Read her post to see more of those lovely little brioche babies: Brioche - Middle Class Buns

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My post, Brioche a Tete and Cinnamon Rum Raisin Snails, shows two very different end products that I baked with my middle class brioche dough. I enjoyed working with the dough, and the cinnamon rolls certainly smelled divine.

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[Edit 7/12/09:


Cathy of The Tortefeasor took this opportunity to not just bake mini brioche loaves but to make her cinnamon buns from half of the dough. She is another brioche-making veteran, and will continue mixing up brioche to use as the base for sweet rolls and sticky buns. Here's her post: BBA: Brioche]

When our other Slow and Steady subgroup member, Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina posts, I will update this post to include her brioche link.

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The next challenge bread in The Bread Baker's Apprentice is "Casatiello" - we're finally reaching the "C" section of the book! Check out our individual blogs around July 12 and 13 for some beautiful and tasty bread, and the following week I hope to have the roundup posted.