Those of you who made our Hot Cross Buns also inadvertently made brioche. This rich buttery dough is the base dough for our Hot Cross Buns. This base dough can also be made into delicious brioche buns for burgers and pulled pork or into a loaf for toasting to serve with chicken liver pate. In our opinion this dough really comes into its own when used as a pastry for sweet or savoury tarts or flans and a variety of breakfast scrolls.
You will need to plan ahead if you want to use the recipe below as a pastry. This is the smallest quantity that is practical to make; about 1200gm. If you want to make just one flan or tart you need to use about 1kg of dough for something else. Perhaps two 500gm loaves or ten 100gm buns or, you can do what we did.
Last week from one batch of brioche dough we made a savoury cheese flan, an apple tart and eight each of cheese, spring onion, fruit and, chocolate and almond scrolls. For purposes of home baking practicality, the dough was made the afternoon before and proven overnight in the refrigerator, allowing all these dishes to be made fresh the next morning to serve as part of a brunch. In our case it had to be shared with friends, family and neighbours due to self-distancing rules. Fortunately everything reheated beautifully and in the case of the cheese flan was just as enjoyable the next day at room temperature.
Special mention needs to be made of the Spring Onion Scrolls. These came into being through a request from noted food writer and cooking teacher Tony Tan, who asked us to make some to accompany a curry he was making at a Masterclass at the Parmelia Hilton in Perth many years ago. Of the many luminaries of the food world we met over the years, Tony was one of the most passionate and professional people we have ever dealt with. He is a gentle, caring and kind person with an encyclopedic knowledge of food and still remains a good friend today. He is busy establishing his own cooking school in rural Victoria. You can follow him on Instagram; @tonytan53.
Dough Ingredients
650gm baker’s flour
15gm salt
80gm unsalted butter
350ml full cream milk
30gm castor sugar
1 egg
30gm fresh yeast or 15gms dried yeast
Method
In a saucepan warm milk to just below blood temperature; 25C to 27C is ideal. Add the castor sugar and crumble in the fresh yeast. If you are you are using dry yeast sprinkle this into the warm milk. Break and add the egg then briefly whisk all these ingredients together. Set aside for ten minutes until frothy.
In a large bowl stir together the flour and salt. Rub the butter into this mixture.
When the milk mixture is frothy stir this into the flour and butter mixture with a wooden spoon until combined. The mixture should be quite wet and sticky. Don’t add extra flour because the dough needs to be soft and moist. When the dough is combined tip it onto your workbench and knead until smooth and very elastic. This should take 10 to 15 minutes. Add an extra tablespoon or two of milk if required to ensure the dough is very soft. Different flours absorb different amounts of liquid.
Cover with cling film and leave to prove for 1 to 1½ hours or place in the refrigerator overnight. If you do choose to prove in the refrigerator take the dough out 2 hours before you wish to start using it as a pastry.
The Fillings
Spring Onion Scrolls
Wash and chop one bunch of spring onions including much of the green. In a small saucepan melt 20gm of butter, add the chopped spring onions and lightly sauté until they are soft but not brown. Season to taste and set aside to cool.
Cheese Scrolls
You will require 125gm of shredded cheese; a resealable packet from the supermarket is fine.
Fruit Scrolls
100gm mixed dried fruit; sultanas, raisins, currants, chopped apricot, any or all of these are fine. We used our leftover refrigerated fruit mince from Christmas.
Chocolate and Almond Scrolls
125gm milk chocolate pieces; we broke up a block of Cadbury's
2 tablespoons slivered almonds.
Cheese Tart
300gm of grated cheeses. We used fontina, a French sheep cheese which was pretty strong, a little Manchego and some fresh goat cheese. This is a great way to use up all those leftover bits and pieces of cheese that accumulate in the refrigerator. However you can use any savoury filling you like; bacon, ham , chicken, leek, spinach, tinned tuna, left over roasted vegetables. Be brave; be confident.
2 eggs
150ml pouring or whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste.
Apple Tart
300gm fresh cooked, canned or frozen fruit or berries. Canned cherries are really good in this (especially with dark chocolate pieces) but so are frozen blueberries. We cooked three peeled Granny Smith apples sautéed in a frypan with 50gm of butter and two tablespoons of castor sugar until soft and slightly caramelised. Ok I confess I also added a good slug of brandy but Calvados, French apple brandy from Normandy would have been even better. Unfortunately it had all been drunk!
2 eggs
2 tablespoons castor sugar
teaspoon of ground cinnamon .
The Method
The Scrolls
In a small bowl beat an egg for brushing.
For each batch of scrolls roll out 200gm of brioche pastry on a very lightly flour-dusted bench until it is 300mm across and 150mm deep. The pastry will be about 1mm thick. You will have to roll out slightly wider and deeper and allow the dough to shrink back to the desired and finish size.
Brush the pastry lightly with the beaten egg.
Spread your filling along the 300mm length about 15mm in from the edge closest to you and 15mm back from the edge furthest from you.
Picking up the front edge, roll the pastry tightly way from you until you have a long cylinder with the joint crease on the bottom.
Cut into eight pieces, each about 35mm wide then place apart on a baking paper lined baking tray.
Cover with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place until double in size and puffy to touch.
Heat your oven to 200C.
When ready, brush the scrolls with beaten egg and bake until golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm or reheat later for 15 seconds in a microwave or 4 or 5 minutes in a 170C oven.
While the photos show the Spring Onion Scrolls, the same method is used for all scrolls.
The Savoury Flan
Set the oven at 180C
Butter a 200mm removable base flan tin.
Roll out 200gm brioche pastry into a circle about 30% larger than your tin. When the natural shrinkage of the pastry has stopped, lightly drape the dough into the tin with a small overhang on the top edges.
Lay in your chosen filling.
Beat the eggs and cream together lightly and season to taste. You should need about ½ teaspoon of salt but taste and check.
Pour the egg and cream mixture over the filling.
Roll your rolling pin over the tin to remove any overhang then place in the oven.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the tart is set.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Unlike traditional shortcrust pastry which will go soggy if microwaved, the brioche pastry won't.
The Sweet Tart
Set your oven at 180C.
Butter a 200mm removable base flan tin.
Roll 200gm of brioche pastry to a diameter of around 300mm. When the natural shrinkage has stopped, drape the pastry into the tin allowing it to overhang the edges slightly.
Fill to about 3/4 depth with your chosen fruit filling.
Beat the eggs, cream and sugar lightly together with any selected spice.
Pour this mixture over the filling.
Roll your rolling pin over the top of the tin to trim the overhang.
Place in the oven and bake for around 40 minutes until golden and the filling is set.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Commenti