Hello food lovers!
You know my passion for leavened doughs and especially brioches… Today, I’m back with a recipe that might just outshine the others…
Here is the Nanterre brioche with its airy crumb!
Among the many brioche recipes on the blog, here are my favorites (until the one coming up!!):
- The braided brioche
- The Vendeen gâche
- The Alsatian Stolle
- The chocolate briochettes
- The flaky brioche
- The sugar tart
- The Babka brioche
Before talking about the Nanterre brioche recipe, let’s have a bit of history, taken from the city of… Nanterre!
While the Parisian brioche consists of two stacked balls, a smaller one on top of a larger one, the Nanterre brioche has a rectangular shape, without a top, and is topped with small dough portions. The dough is divided into eight equal parts, aligned in two rows, tightly placed at the bottom of a buttered mold. These balls, brushed with egg wash, will fuse together as they rise and bake in the oven.
The brioche might date back to the year 451. The archdeacon of Auxerre brought eulogies—small blessed breads—to Geneviève. A tradition then started of distributing small cakes with the image of the saint to the canons of the Sainte-Geneviève abbey in Nanterre.
Thriving under the Ancien Régime, the trade of “Nanterre small cake vendors” remained strong until the mid-19th century. However, bread, madeleines, and brioches gradually declined in the following decades, nearly disappearing after World War I.
Now, back to our recipe…
What will make your Nanterre brioche with an airy crumb exceptional—yes, I’m excited!—is the kneading time. In general, the more you knead your dough, the more airy and soft your crumb will be. So don’t be surprised by the kneading times in the recipe…
My little trick to achieve this unique crumb is the shaping technique. Once you’ve made your 8 dough portions and shaped them into balls, you should roll each ball out and then roll the dough onto itself. This method creates layers, similar to puff pastry. You’ll love the result!
Other than that, it’s no more complicated than a classic brioche. I added a little orange blossom water, but it’s optional if you don’t like it. You can also sprinkle pearl sugar on top of your Nanterre brioche before baking! 😉
Either way, you’ll end up with an ultra-soft brioche, as you can see here in my video. Let me know in the comments if it makes your mouth water!!
I think we can move on to the part you’ve been waiting for… the preparation steps! Put on your apron, and let’s go!
The recipe, Chef!
Nanterre Brioche
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Loading...Ingredients
- Brioche
- 420 g flour
- 50 g sugar
- 5 g salt
- 8 g dry yeast (or 20 g fresh)
- 2 tbsp orange blossom water (optional)
- 2 medium size eggs
- 160 g milk
- 60 g butter at room temperature
- Finish
- 1 small egg
- 1 pinch of salt
Instructions
Heat the milk 30 seconds in your microwave oven.
Pour the flour in your food processor bowl.
Pour the sugar and salt on one side of the bowl. Pour the yeast at the opposite, to avoid any contact between the sugar / salt and the yeast.
Add the orange blossom water and the eggs.
Start kneading at low speed.
Add the milk, little bu little.
Once you've added all the milk, keep on kneading for ten minutes.
Help with a spatula to bring the dough back in the center during kneading if necessary.
Add the butter cut in cubes.
Knead for 5 more minutes.
Finally, knead 1 or 2 minutes at higher speed.
Bring the dough back in the center with your spatula to make a nice dough.
Cover with a linen and leave to rise for 1 hr 30 min to 2 hrs.
Place the risen dough on your working plan.
Shape 8 doughs. Spread them on 18 to 20 cm length and roll the dough.
Place the 8 doughs in a buttered cake mold.
Let rise again for 45 minutes covered with your linen.
Beat the egg with a pinch of salt and brush the brioche.
Heat your oven at 180 C / 355 F degrees and put the brioche in right away.
Cook for 25 to 30 minutes until golden.
Place on a cooling rack before serving.
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