"Let them eat brioche."

Brioche is often served as a pastry or as the basis of a dessert, and is not exactly sweet nor savory, which makes it the perfect bread for any meal. It has many local variations of added ingredients, filling and toppings. It is also used with savory preparations using foie gras, and used in some meat dishes.

Traditionally brioche is formed into a loaf or smaller dinner roll-sized "brioche á tête." These are large balls of dough with a small round knot positioned on the top, although there are no rules that say you cant make it into a regular loaf or rolls.

On a side note, apparently Marie Antoinette never said "Let them eat cake" she said "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" which literally means let them eat rich, expensive, funny-snapped, yellow, eggy buns.



Now, lets visit the great Ciril Hitz and take a look at how to create the classic brioche á tête.

I want to take a second to talk a little about the differences between dry active yeast and compressed yeast to give you a little more knowledge about the two. 

The main purpose of yeast is to serve as a catalyst in the process of fermentation, which is essential in bread making. The purpose of a leavener is to produce the gas that makes bread rise. Yeast does this by by feeding on the sugars in the flour, and expelling carbon dioxide in the process. As the yeast feeds on the sugar, it produces carbon dioxide. With no place to go but up, this gas slowly fills up the balloon. When bread rises, carbon dioxide from yeast fills thousand of balloon like bubbles in the dough. Once the bread is baked, this is what give the loaf its airy texture.

Active dry yeast is one of the most common forms of yeast and in most places is easier to find in the store. This yeast has a much higher shelf life than compressed yeast and its best stored under refrigeration but you can actually store dry yeast at room temperature for several month before it begins to loose potency. It usually comes in 1/4 ounce packets or in jars of various amounts.

As far as taste, it gives a bit sharper and more fermented flavor to baked goods than compressed yeast.

Dry yeast does require a bit of prep before use; the best method is to sprinkle the yeast over warm water at about 105-115degrees, once the water shows a bit of foam forming its active for use.

Compressed yeast becomes active faster than dry and stays active longer, and although it can be frozen for several months, it wont keep nearly as long as dry yeast in storage. It does not need the same activation technique as the dry active yeast some prefer to soften it in lukewarm water before using. Its flavor does tend to be a little milder and tends to impart sweeter tastes.

The conversion rate for yeast: One 1/4 ounce packet of dry yeast OR one fresh cake of compressed yeast equals 2 - 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast.

Happy baking!

-Ashley