This month's ABC project was not only fun but also very delicious. The Overnight Brioche Braid from The Weekend Baker was a big hit, not only with me but with many of the ABC bakers. My twist on the recipe was to add a generous amount of orange zest and some freshly ground cardamom to the dough. The aroma is so tantalizing that it makes your mouth water before you even put a bite in your mouth.
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I put all the ingredients in the bread machine and ran the dough cycle. The dough remained soft and sticky but I resisted adding more flour.
After the first rise, I divided the dough into 3 portions and made 3 braids, so I can bake it in 3 small loaf pans (and give one away). I find you get the prettiest braids if you start braiding from the middle, not the end.
Right before baking, I brushed the loaves with an egg wash and sprinkled sliced almonds on top.
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| Look at that yummy soft texture. Bon appetit! |
Final thoughts/tips:
- Hubby and I loved this brioche. It was even better (and more aromatic) the next day. Hubby really loved the smell and soft texture. He gave it a "good 9" out of 10 rating.
- The brioche was light, soft and tender. And the orange zest and cardamom were a great addition to give it that something extra. I also liked the crunch from the almond slices on top.
- Additions to the recipe: zest of 2 medium oranges, rubbed into the sugar in the recipe. Remove seeds from 12 cardamom pods and grind in coffee grinder with 1 Tbsp of golden flax seeds. Measure 1-1/2 tsp baking powder and add it to the dry ingredients.
- Substitutions: used all bread flour instead of AP flour, used 1% milk instead of whole milk. Used 4 Tbsp (2 oz) unsalted butter and 1 oz of vegetable oil instead of 1 stick (4 oz) of butter.
- Oven temp changes: after baking the loaves for 10 minutes, reduced the heat to 375F.
- If you would like to see what the other ABC bakers thought of this recipe, check out the ABC blog roll.
Wow, looks really good! I like your changes, orange and cardamom sounds great! And you braid them really neat and pretty! This is a wonderful recipe, thanks for choosing this!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day, Hanaa!
Beautiful brioche! Love the idea of adding cardamom to it.
ReplyDeleteThese brioches braids look awesome. I love the addition of orange and cardamom, a great combination! I would love to have a slice right now, for beakfast!
ReplyDeleteYum! Orange zest and cardamom! Sounds lovely...how much of both did you put? Would love to try that next time. And by the way, the loaves look so gorgeous! They all were braided so neatly and fit perfectly inside the pan... they didn't rise with uneven bumps unlike mine LOL. This is another challenge I'd try again because I want mine to look as perfect as yours!
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I'm sure the addition of orange zest and cardamom made all the difference. Interesting that you braid the loaves from the middle, I have to try that next time.
ReplyDeletevery neat, Hanaa! I love it! the twist u made to the brioche made me wanna try that too :)
ReplyDeleteLoaf looks gorgeous. It's definitely making me want to bake bread today--will see if I can fit something else in!
ReplyDeleteWow they look so tidy and tamed! Great result for such a sticky dough to work with (at least mine was). Cardamom in the dough...yum!
ReplyDeleteWow!Cardamom, orange and almonds! This sounds great! I'm sure your brioches smelled and tasted so good Hanaa!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos of all the different steps that it took to bake these awesome sticky brioches, and the shots do really show off how soft and delicious they are. Great post my friend and "Bravo".
Have a lovely day,
Cheers
Mamat
A match made in heaven, cardamom, orange and almonds. What a wonderful idea. And you even got three loaves out of this recipe, YUM!!
ReplyDelete