Sugar Brioche by Cedric Grolet

Hello food lovers!

Today, I’m taking you straight back to childhood. A truly nostalgic and ultra-indulgent journey…

Here is Cédric Grolet’s sugar tart!

So, sugar tart or sugar brioche, this recipe is absolutely divine…

The risk with these kinds of childhood flavor memories is that we tend to idealize them. Our taste buds evolve between childhood and adulthood, and what seemed amazing at age 10 might feel ordinary at 30 or beyond. 😉

(Baking mat and pastry rings from De Buyer)

This sugar tart memory takes me back to Place Kléber in Strasbourg, to a bakery that, I believe, no longer exists today. It was my guilty pleasure back then. I couldn’t walk past the tempting display without stopping to buy a sugar tart. Soft, buttery, perfectly sweet… pure bliss!!

And even though this treat is typical of northern France (or Quebec, but with a shortcrust pastry version), I assure you, the Alsatian sugar tart from Place Kléber was incredible!!

So, when I was lucky enough to receive Cédric Grolet’s recipe book and spotted this recipe, I was over the moon!! With a tiny bit of stress about whether it would live up to my memories.

Would I rediscover that childhood taste?

Is Cédric Grolet’s sugar tart true to the traditional recipe?

Is the recipe accessible (meaning: not too complicated)?

On that last point, rest assured—yes, this is a completely doable recipe. I categorized it as medium difficulty because the kneading time is long and requires a stand mixer with a dough hook. It can be done by hand, but be prepared to work up a sweat… That’s the price for achieving an incredible fluffy texture!

However, I do have one comment about Cédric Grolet’s book: it’s gorgeous, the recipes are stunning, but the explanations are quite minimalistic, and I found the baking time underestimated.

Other than that, Cédric Grolet’s sugar tart is true to my childhood memories—the taste is spot on, and the texture is unbelievably soft. In short, the two tarts I made disappeared in one single snack time with six people! Okay, we were a bit greedy…

The necessary tools:

A stand mixer with a dough hook (my kMix handled the 15-minute kneading perfectly…),

Two 22 cm pastry rings,

And a baking mat (or a tray lined with parchment paper).

(Presentation: Revol plate)

There you have it—you’ve got everything you need. Shall we get started?

The recipe, Chef!

Print Recipe

Sugar Brioche by Cedric Grolet

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petit déjeuner – française

Serves: 2 pces Difficulty: Medium Price: $

Prep Time: 20 min + 4,5 heures – Cooking Time: 20 min

Ingredients

• 350 g flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 40 g sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 50 g milk
• 6 g instant yeast or 13 g fresh yeast
• 165 g butter at room temperature
• 50 g salted butter (or regular)
• 40 g sugar

Instructions

1

Heat the milk until lukewarm, add the yeast. Mix.

2

Pour the flour, salt, 40 sugar and 3 eggs in your food processor bowl.

3

Start kneading at low speed (2 on a scale from 1 to 6) and add the milk.

4

Knead for 7 to 8 minutes.

5

Add the 165 g butter cut in pieces and knead 7 to 8 more minutes while increasing to speed 4.

6

Cover with a humid linen and let rise.

7

After 2 hours, make two doughs, shape them in flat discs and place them in 2 buttered pastry rings.

8

Let rise for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

9

After this time, preheat your oven at 170 C / 340 F degrees.

10

Make deep finger holes in your brioches and place a cube of butter in each hole.

11

Spread sugar.

12

Bake for 20 minutes.