TWD: Finnish Pulla

 With the Finnish Pulla we finish (haha) this 2012-TWD-year.

When I saw the picture I was afraid it is one of these very much time consuming, almost not possible to knead with a hand-mixer brioche breads.

Well, it's not. It takes some time for resting and rising, but compared to other yeasted breads the rising times are not too long (two times 45 mins), so you can easily do it in a half a day.
And the dough is not so extremely dense as a brioche. Additionally, you can easily knead it with your hands. What is, after all, a nice experience.

The Pulla (is it simply called Pulla? or Pulla Bread?) is a basic recipe, not too much fuzz, and still a bit exraordinary due to the cardamom in it. The almonds and sugar on top makes it look very lovely.

I made only half the recipe, so my strands were not long enough to make a circle. But the book also gives a picture of a "loaf" so I guess it's ok to shape it like I did.

All in all, this is an excellent recipe for a brioche-like bread! And: Although I like to bake seasonally, I am also very thankful for having a recipe this week that is NOT overloaded with sugar, almond paste, cinamon and nuts. I was in the need of a break. Seriously.

For the recipe, head over to Erin's blog The Daily Morsel or have a look at pp 106/107 in Dorie Greenspan's book.

TWD: Golden Brioche Loaves

I love doing brioche! Generally, I am more into breakfast treats, cookies and viennoiserie than torte loaded with cream.

For doing the brioche, you need some time because it has to rest and rise over night, and you have to give the dough some "treatments" from time to time. But it's oh so worth the fuzz!

I use a hand-mixer and this recipe was almost too much for it. At the very end of the mixing I was afraid it could overheat. I guess 1 more minutes and it would have happened. But lucky me - everything went find.
The recipe itself is not difficult. Go to Margie's page "Tea and Scones", who did choose this one for this week's TWD, or have a look into Dorie's book on pp. 48-50. I made a loaf and some typical shaped brioche.

The hardest part is maybe that you have to wait for one hour until you are allowed to taste it! I went out and had a jogg, to keep me away from it! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to resist the delicious smell...

Just a quick word on the recipe: I make brioche from time to time, and I am not always in the condition of having this much time to prepare the dough. I foudn another recipe in Ginet Mathiot's "I know how to cook" (something like the "french bible of cooking" - seriously, I gues you will find it in every home!) You need about the same ingredients in the same quantity for it, but can do it in one day.

Easter Menu (the sweet part) and TWD catch-up: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

Like on Christmas I opted for bringing the sweets for the Easter Brunch. (As in the meantime desserts became the only course I might manage to make not too bad, this was an easy decision for everybody involved. What is, like me and my mom.) And, contrary to Christmas, when I made the Christmas Muffins I found at Laws of the Kitchen , David Lebovitz' Roquefort Icecream with a Shiraz poached pear and  goat cheese custards - and forgot to picture them!!, this time I took pictures...

TWD rewind and forward: Parmesan Sablés and Golden Brioche Loaf

Only 14 more days to go until Easter sunday, and then I will be back on the actual TWD-recipe rotation!! I am already so much looking forward to it...

For the weekend I had a huge programme: Parmesan Sablés, what I wanted to try since I made the pure Sablés back in December. And because I was a bit ill last week and stayed at home Friday I thought that would be a good occasion to take all my guts and try the Golden Brioche Loaf, as I had enough time. (a recipe that has not yet been on the recipe rotation - is it possible??)

Time is really needed to make the Brioche. But in the end it's oh so worth it.... You need time and patience, because first the dough needs to rest and rise for about an hour. Then you have to regularily deflate it every 30 mins for another two hours. Then it has to rest over night in the fridge. Then you shape it, and then, yes, exactly - it has to rest and rise some more. If you think, well ok, but finally then it is over - not quite. After the appropriate baking time you have to wait for 15 mins before you can take the Brioche out of the pans and molds. And then comes the hard part, that needs not only patience but also self-restraint. Because then you have to wait for at least one hour before you are allowed to taste it. Baking can be so cruel...
But afterwards, believe me, you will be glad you invested all this time and effort and self-restriction. I had some the day I made them, and some more the next day, re-warmed for Sunday breakfast. And I put almost the entire loaf in the fridge and will be making Bostock of it on Easter weekend.

Brioche has always been my favourite escape from my Lenten promise, because it is not really a sweet but definitely a treat. But self-made brioche is even better. I made it without any sugar, and missed nothing.

The Parmesan Sablés turned out pretty good. I love baking savory treats! They turned out a lot like the first Sablés I made in autumn, despite this time they didn't spread (what I suppose they shouldn't, so don't ask me what went wrong in December). And I became a little better at shaping them into logs and get them round. Somehow, I still do have too much wholes in the dough. So I have to re-shape them heavily and cut them very carefully, so they don't break due to the holes in the middle of the circles. Don't know what is wrong. The first and the second rack I made where lovely, just the second got almost burned. The problem might have been that I didn't wait long enough to let the baking-rack and the paper cool down completely. So already after about 8 mins baking time they were dark, dark brown. 

I am eager to do both of them again, but when I see how many new recipes I still have to try out, I doubt if I will find the time. Especially as in 10 days I will start a new, very stressy, but also very exciting job...