House Spouse

I must tell you that I sat here for a moment contemplating the consequences of titling this post, “Brioche Boobs.” Keep reading and you’ll understand.

I was so intrigued by the photographs and recipe for “Sunny Saffron Brioche” on Design*Sponge a week or so ago that I knew I needed to use my first “free” afternoon (as in, reading and working at home) to take on this little project.

I started the dough after returning from a noon-time run. As I told my friend Louisa, this is one of the perks of being a full-time graduate student, getting to head outdoors in the middle of a beautiful day. The generally pleasant weather this week has reminded me, though, that my days of using the oven are nearing their end (it is far too hot to turn the oven on the summer in this apartment). I have a running list of things to bake before that first oppressive day when this part of our place becomes unbearable.

But back to this particular recipe. It’s lovely and makes a really satisfying and tasty sweet brioche. I do have some changes, though. I think that there was a problem converting the European measurements to American ones. The recipe calls for “approx. 2 cups of flour.” I needed add at least 1 1/2 to 2 more cups. I didn’t use compressed fresh yeast, which changed things as well.

The recipe:

Sunny Saffron Brioche
Adapted from Delicious Days
yields 12 muffin-sized brioches

Ingredients:
Start with approx. 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1.4 Tbsp compressed (fresh) yeast or 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast
7 ounces (just under 1 cup) milk, lukewarm
1/4 tsp saffron
5 Tbsp white sugar plus 1 more teaspoon
1 pinch of salt
5 Tbsp butter, softened, plus extra for greasing tray and brioche
2 large eggs

All ingredients need to be room temperature, make sure to take them out of the fridge early enough.

Sieve the flour into a bowl, make a little depression in the middle and crumble the compressed yeast into it. Heat the milk until lukewarm. Grind the saffron threads in a mortar using the 1 tsp of sugar, then add the saffron sugar to the warm milk, it will instantly turn bright yellow. Pour as much milk into the well as necessary to cover the yeast crumbs (if using fresh, otherwise pour enough to moisten all of the flour), then stir the yeast-milk mix once or twice. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let this sponge rise for about 10 to 15 minutes in a warm and cozy spot, the surface will start to look bubbly.

Add the remaining ingredients (saffron milk, sugar, pinch of salt, butter, eggs ) and knead well, either manually or with your kitchen machine until the dough can be easily removed from the bowl (non-sticky). If it still feels too sticky, add some more flour, only one tablespoon at a time. Again, let the covered bowl rest in a warm place for at least an hour, the size of the dough should almost double.

Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F) and grease the cups of a regular muffin tin (12 holes) with butter. Knead dough one more time and toss on a floured pastry board. Cut in equal pieces and form little snow ball sized dumplings. Reserve a small amount of dough for the little balls to top the brioches and to ensure typical look.

Fill each cup of the tin with a dough ball, then poke it with the handle of a wooden spoon or your finger, this is where you place a tiny little dough ball – hey, it’s all about the look! Melt two tablespoons of butter and carefully brush the soon-to-be-brioches. Cover with foil and let rest a final time, 15 to 30 minutes should do just fine. Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 18 to 20 minutes or until the tops turn golden brown. Cover with parchment paper if the tops get too dark too fast. Remove from the oven, carefully release them from the muffin tray and brush them with a little melted butter if desired, giving them a nice little extra glow.

While these guys were in the oven, I was preparing dinner and forgot to peak in on them about half way through. When the timer went off (after 15 minutes–my oven runs a little hot), I gasped out loud when I discovered how the tops had browned a little more than golden as well as inflated a little more:

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