Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (43 page)

BOOK: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2
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When hole is large enough to do so, insert both hands and gently stretch dough while twirling it on floured surface
. The object is to make a doughnut shape 10 to 12 inches in diameter.

Place shaped dough on a lightly buttered baking sheet and let rest 10 minutes to relax gluten, then widen the circle a little more.

 

To keep center of dough from closing in during rising and baking,
insert a lightly buttered ovenproof bowl or cup in hole
.

Let dough rise, uncovered, to almost double at a temperature of around 75 degrees, until dough is light and springy to the touch. Paint with a double coating of egg glaze (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp of water) just before baking.

 

Then clip top of dough at 1-inch intervals, making cuts about 1 inch deep, pointing scissors toward outside of ring at a 45-degree angle
.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the middle level of a preheated 475-degree oven until nicely puffed and browned. A knife or straw plunged into the center of one side should come out clean. If
brioche
browns too much during baking, cover loosely with heavy brown paper or aluminum foil.

Kougloff
[
Brioche
with Raisins]

Whether or not this molded ring-shaped raisin
brioche
originated with Viennese bakers, it is usually considered by the French to be an Alsatian raisin
cake of uncertain orthography, as you will see it spelled also
Kugelhopf, Kougelhof, Gougelhop
, and even
Gugelhupf
. Bakers frequently make
Kougloff
out of leftover
brioche
dough, softening it with a little milk or additional butter as they knead in the raisins just before dropping the dough into its mold.

For a 6-cup Kougloff
Special requirements

¾ cup (4 ounces) small currant raisins

1 to 1½ tsp soft butter

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