We were given the opportunity to take any recipe, & change or adapt it to our own designs. I chose to do two flavoured brioches; a chocolate & hazelnut brioche, with vanilla & cinnamon, & a spiced fruit brioche!
There were a few of us working with brioche dough so we ganged up & made a big batch, then we scaled it down to our individual doughs & set to work mixing in our inclusions.
It was so much fun, & so empowering to be able to work semi-independently (Wayne was always on hand to double check percentages etc). The last three weeks have been sort of a blur, & I haven't been completely sure I've been taking it all in, but I actually have =)
I worked out the percentages for my inclusions, scaled down the brioche dough to an 80g drop weight, rounded them off, then shaped them, & all with confidence. I think I've got bakers percentages worked out in my head now, which means I can adjust a recipe to scale the yield up or down as required, & to add inclusions to create a flavoured dough, which is brilliant!
My brioche rolls needed a little more time to prove, due to the inclusions in the mix, but eventually they were ready to bake!
So, a final egg-wash & sprinkling of crystallised ginger & white chocolate chips, then into the oven they went!
And here they are!
My Chocolate & Hazelnut Brioche, with Vanilla & Cinnamon, topped with White Chocolate Drops =D
Once they'd just about cooled, we broke into one to see how they tasted, & I'm really quite pleased. I think if I made these again I would increase the amount of Vanilla & Cinnamon in the mix, as I couldn't really taste the vanilla, & I think the Cinnamon could have been a touch stronger, but Wayne thought they were brilliant! =D
My Spiced Fruit Brioche; Sultanas, Currants & Mango, soaked in Apple & Blackberry Brandy, topped with Crystallised Ginger!
Again I was pleased with how these turned out; they've got quite a subtle fruity flavour, so I think next time I would add more soaked fruit, & increase the amount of mixed spice in the mix.
Everyone else's experiments turned out really well too; there was such a huge range of things baked, it was quite remarkable!
Here are just a few photos of the other students goodies =)
Sara's Brioche rolls, with Figs & Goats Cheese
Amy's Chelsea Buns
Alex's Beer-guettes! (Baguettes made with an all-beer poolish!)
Clare's Lemon & Orange Brioche
Meg's Goats Cheese, Roasted Shallot & Thyme Loaves
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