Brioche Lyonnaise
This buttery brioche comes to us from French-born pastry chef Dominique Ansel, owner of New York City’s Dominique Ansel Bakery. Lauded for his innovation and creativity in the pastry world, the chef is perhaps best known as the inventor of the wildly popular Cronut, his croissant-doughnut hybrid. Here he prepares the brioche in the style of Lyon by adding pink pralines, which are sugar-coated almonds tinted with a bit of red food coloring. Some are tucked inside the dough and the rest are sprinkled on top before baking the bread. Be sure to use fresh yeast when preparing the dough; the chef likes the Red Star brand, available at national retailers as well as online.
Note that the recipe lists quantities by gram weight instead of by volume, which is a faster and more accurate way to measure ingredients when baking. If you don’t own a kitchen scale, this is a great time to purchase one.
Ingredients:
For the brioche dough:
- 264 g bread flour
- 10 g fresh yeast
- 36 g sugar
- 7 g kosher salt
- 52 g water
- 2 large eggs
- 132 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
For the pink pralines:
- 83 g almonds
- 200 g sugar, divided evenly into 3 bowls (67 g each)
- 50 g water, divided evenly into 3 bowls (17 g each)
- A few drops of red food coloring
- 15 g rosewater
For the egg wash:
- 1 large egg
- 5 g whole milk
- 1 g kosher salt
Directions:
To prepare the brioche dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, fresh yeast, sugar and salt and mix on high speed until evenly combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the water and eggs. Gradually add the water mixture to the flour mixture, mixing on high speed until fully incorporated and the dough starts to form and develop elasticity.
When the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer bowl, add the butter and mix until it is fully incorporated. Eventually the dough will pull off the sides of the mixer and become smooth.
Line a baking sheet with a large piece of plastic wrap. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, loosely wrap the dough in the plastic and begin proofing (fermentation). Leave the dough out in a warm room with some humidity (i.e., near an oven) until the dough doubles in size, 30 to 45 minutes. Then use the palm of your hands to push down the dough to remove excess air. Place it in the refrigerator, still wrapped in plastic, to chill for at least 5 hours or up to overnight.
To prepare the pink pralines, preheat an oven to 320°F (160°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread the almonds in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and toast in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Line another baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a saucepan, combine the first 67 g of sugar with the first 50 g of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Add 1 or 2 drops of red food coloring. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches 250°F (121°C) on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat, add the toasted almonds and stir until evenly coated. Add the rosewater, mixing until the sugar crystallizes around the almonds. Spread the almonds onto the prepared baking sheet and let cool.
Repeat this process twice. Once the almonds have a substantial coating of pink sugar, set aside to cool.
Butter a Le Creuset heritage baking dish.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 6 balls, each 100 g. Using your hands, flatten the dough balls into individual discs.
Place a handful of pink pralines in the center of each dough disc and pinch the dough so the pralines are sealed inside (reserve some pralines to sprinkle on top). Roll the dough into balls and place them in the prepared baking dish.
Gently cover the dish with plastic wrap and let the dough proof in a warm room until the balls double in size.
Preheat an oven to 350°F (170°C).
To make the egg wash, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and salt. Gently brush the surface of the brioche with a thin layer of egg wash.
Roughly chop the remaining pink pralines and sprinkle on top of the brioche.
Bake until the brioche is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Serve warm. Makes 6 brioche.
Courtesy of Dominique Ansel, Chef/Owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery, New York City
Recommended Products:
-
$60
-
$699.95
(184)
-
$55.95
(8)
-
$49.95
-
$42.95
(20)
-
$44.95
-
$199.95
(244)
-
$42.95
-
$16.95
