For this month’s recipe challenge, I tackled Matt Adlard’s Brioche Feuilletée: an enriched brioche dough laminated with butter until it bakes up somewhere between a croissant and the fluffiest brioche bread you’ve ever had!
Unfortunately, my instant yeast decided to quiet quit halfway through the project, so every proof took far longer than expected. Not exactly what you want when you’re already signing up for hours of rolling, folding, chilling, and waiting.
The shaping might have been my favorite part. After the final roll, the dough is sliced in half and tucked into loaf pans in a zigzag pattern. It looks a little chaotic going in, but it bakes into beautiful, buttery layers.
A quick brush of simple syrup at the end adds just enough sweetness and gives the crust that gorgeous shine.
While this isn’t something I’ll be making regularly, since it’s a lot of work for the average weekend, it’s worth trying if you’re looking for a baking project, want to practice lamination, or need to impress friends coming over for brunch. Fresh from the oven and still slightly warm, it was hard to stop slicing off just one more piece.
Next time, I may try using all-butter frozen puff pastry to save myself some time. Store-bought is fine, right!
Book: Bake It Better, page 198
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That – Skill Level: Difficult
Store-Bought Is Fine: unsalted butter
Recipe not online.
