1/31/17

Brioche, S'il vous plaît

When I left you yesterday, we were all twisted into pretzels, keeping everything crossed that we could. Some of you complained about being off balance from all the crossing. Ladies, you are the best friends a baker could ask for. The brioche dough had been given two hours to rise, and had done nothing. I gave it another two hours after writing yesterday's post, and I smacked my hands every time I tried to check it. (My habit is to check it approximately every five seconds. In the way that a watched pot won't boil, I'm realizing that watched bread dough will not rise.) So anyway...after an additional two hours, it had risen nicely.


From here, I brushed it lightly with an egg wash, and then let it rise an additional hour before baking it off. When it came out of the oven, it was truly lovely. Oh my gosh...all of the breads I've made, successes and flops, have created the most beautiful aroma that fills all the rooms of the house.


The loaves are a bit squat, and the book was confusing about whether this recipe would make two or three loaves. There's conflicting information in the recipe in that it says at the top it will make three loaves. Then, in the instructions it says to divide it into three parts, but to grease just two loaf pans. Okay, so which is it? I needed three loaves, and so I went with three loaves. Looking at these, they might have baked up nicer if I'd only made two.


No worries though. Short or tall, our loaf made the tastiest French toast this morning. Mmm, mmm, mmm. And since I didn't think the French toast would clog our arteries enough, we had bacon on the side. (Mike needs his protein.)


If you don't count the baking of the bread, the French toast was really quick and easy to make. I've made French toast a few times, but not since the kids were little. I was doing it the way my dear MIL showed me. My mother made it all the time when I was a little girl. If I know my mother, she probably used Wonder bread for hers. That's not a criticism...she was a woman of her time, and Wonder bread was the French toast of the town back then. So, all of that to say that the buttery brioche was very nice in the French toast. Since I didn't really have a tried and true recipe for making it up, I used this recipe for Bell-less, Whistle-less Damn Good French Toast off the Food 52 website. With that name, how could I resist? Aside from the bread, all you need are eggs, heavy cream, and butta. Can't go wrong with those ingredients, now can you?

So aside from watching bread dough rise (or not), I finished up the Chicken Buffet block yesterday. First, I did all the top-stitching, and I needed to add a little embellishment for the basket handle.


After the bread was baked, I came back and added its label. I'm doing these using my sewing machine's lettering capability. Every time, I have to get the instruction book out and re-learn how to do it. The last time, I penciled in some notes for myself and it only took me about 5 minutes to come up to speed this time around.


So, making French toast this morning already set the day on a rapid pace. Later this afternoon, I'm meeting up with Matthew and Valerie. Valerie is a first-year teacher teaching 6th grade social studies at one of the local middle schools. We're meeting up to see her classroom this afternoon, and then we'll go out for happy hour and dinner. I'll be bringing one of the loaves of brioche to them.

Aside from that, I'll be working on my cactus quilt for the 3rd challenge of Project Quilting. If you still have the ability to cross your fingers and any other body parts, now would probably be a good time.

19 comments:

Melody A. said...

it looks delicious!! and sounds like it was. Glad this was a good experiment with great results! love the chicken block, so cute!have a lovely dinner. Take care from Iowa

Debbie said...

Oh yeah, beautiful bread and even better French Toast!! We have a local dairy nearby and their milk is pasteurized (kills bad germs) but not homogenized (so we have to shake before using) and it makes every dish better, especially French toast. Count this day a success!

Quilting Babcia said...

Well, your french toast looks and sounds divine, and how could anyone go wrong with eggs, heavy cream, and butter?? Of course hubby would add cinnamon but that's another story!

Lady Jane said...

I have never brioche but will give it a try. Ahhhhh, French toast, my favorite breakfast with maple syrup and peanut butter, yum... I love this chicken block. So cute. hugs, LJ

claudia said...

Mmmm French toast! It looks delicious! I can't have that delicious type breakfast...I'm allergic to EGGS! (of all things!)

The brioche looks good too, and even though it is short, not to worry, good things come in short packages too!

Chicken is a basket is adorable! I always have to go back to the instructions for 90% of what I do on my sewing machine...signs of I don't use it quite enough!

Shirley said...

Your bread looks awesome! Can imagine the taste once it was made into French toast. What a treat. Your bread baking is quite impressive. I have the same memory problem with the lettering on my sewing machine. By the time I know what I am doing, I have finished and promptly forget the sequence. So next time, I will follow your lead and make notes.

Angie in SoCal said...

Girl, those look so yummy. I'm drooling here. Very cute block.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Oh, I have not made French Toast is so long - yummo looking. And then you serve up chichen in a basket - food much - yeah, dinner after.

Ray and Jeanne said...

Your bread looks fantastic and I think I can smell the French toast and bacon. Didn't even know I was hungry! So glad you let the dough raise longer. ~Jeanne

WoolenSails said...

That looks delicious, makes me miss being able to eat yeast breads, I loved making specialty breads.
That chicken is so fun, always love seeing your projects.

Debbie

crazy quilter said...

Oh my stars! What beautiful bread you made! And the French toast has me licking my lips just wanting a small taste of all that lovely bread. You inspire me to try baking my own bread, not that I have ever even given it a thought! You are a break baker extrodinaire! I applaud your abilities👏👏👏 . The chicken buffet block is so darn cute. I have the same problem trying to use my alphabet on my Bernina. I cannot seem to retain those instructions in my little brain . Good thing I keep the instruction manual close at all times. Hope you had a nice visit with Matthew and Valerie.

Brown Family said...

Your french toast looks lovely. We had Mrs Baird's Bread. It is a Texas brand but very similar to Wonder bread. I would have to pull out my manual for lettering, too! If I do not use it, I loose it.

Chicken in a Basket is just as cute as the others!

Dana Gaffney said...

They turned out beautiful! and that includes the chicken block (so cute)

Anonymous said...

Hey! Keeping my fingers crossed for you all the time is interfering with my own projects. However, I'll do it for you because I like you and I want you to keep up the good work. (grin)

Dar said...

That looks scrumptious. I'm up earlier than normal because of a head cold and I sure wish there was the wonderful smell of bacon and french toast in my kitchen now! I love the combination, but my DH can't stand the smell of maple syrup. Can you believe that?! So I only get waffles, pancakes or french toast when I am not with him at breakfast time. If only he worked or went fishing with the boys! :)

Your chicken in the basket is very cute. I too have to look up instructions for doing lettering or embroidering anything on my machine since I only do it once every 3 years. lol
Yours looks perfect.

piecefulwendy said...

So glad to hear and see that the brioche turned out! It looks delicious. Yay for you! Those little chicken blocks are so darn cute! What's next on the bread menu??

Natureluvr57 said...

I'm not entering to win but just wanted to say we had a Wonder Bakery that we walked past on our way to the jr high school. I loved the aromas....one day we would smell bread and another day we would smell cinnamon rolls. Awwww...I can smell it now in my memory. I bought some Brioche this summer at Mariano's and tasted it for the first time and really enjoyed it. Enjoy

Kate said...

Beautiful loaves! The French toast looks amazing! Congrats on finishing your Chicken Buffet block. That's going to be such a fun quilt.

quiltzyx said...

The brioche looks terrific! My mom used to make French toast a lot, I think she used the stale slices of bread at the end of the loaf. I've never used heavy cream to make it, but that does sounds delicious. I'll bet the brioche is good warm with more butta too.

Chicken in a Basket is so cute - a very fun pattern.