On Christmas morning, I always treat myself to a sweet
yeasted bread. Back in the day, I used to make stollen, which I love, using a
wonderful recipe from Pleasures of
Cooking, the magazine that Cuisinart
used to put out in the first years they (the original company run by Carl
Sontheimer) were making food processors.
(You remember, the good ones that didn’t crack or burn out). Later, when it was just me, I would buy a
really good imported Panettone (although when I was in Philly I bought them for
a few years from Metropolitan
Bakery when they were making them) and eat it, slowly, over the course of a
week or so, toasting it as it got stale.
This year, still camping out at my son’s house without any
of my own equipment and in the mood for something less sweet, I looked at his
shiny new KitchenAid, sitting forlorn on the counter, and decided to make
brioche. No specialty pan absolutely required (although I do have the big and
little fluted molds in storage), no fruits and nuts needed.
I have been fortunate to live around a lot of good bakeries
in my wandering days (which is pretty much all of them), but the one I probably
loved the most was the one in Carmel, CA where, at the age of 22, before I had
ever been to Europe and American bakeries were still, well, American, I fell in
love with brioche. (Do you think, for my New Year’s resolution, I should strive
for shorter sentences?) I still
absolutely love it, and it is still, surprisingly, not all that easy to find.
So I still consider it to be special.
Brioche can be made in lots of shapes, and is most often
seen as individual rolls, but I love the look of a big brioche Nanterre. So
that’s what I made. Cultured butter, Wayne’s
eggs, flour, yeast—and patience—that’s pretty much it. A simple pleasure for the holiday. Hope you
have a happy one.
1 comment:
hey jane where's the brioche recipe? otherwise, your usual swell post. and stick with the long sentences. i need company. here's to a new year with lots to celebrate and cherish. lol
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