The Little Brioche that almost rose
It is really hard to type out this post right now and I am afraid if I take a nap my heart will quit working. Heck my left arm feels really tingly and it is making it difficult to press any keys on the left of the keyboard.
If you are participating in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice you know exactly which brioche I did from the previous explanation. For those who are not following the insanity that comes from a large group of people deciding to bake every bread in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice the reason is a bread called Rich’s Man Brioche. This bread boosts a glorious 88 percent butter to 100 percent flour ratio or if you are mathematically challenged a whole flipping lot of artery clogging goodness packed in a small container. The amount of butter is so outrageous that I almost called my insurance provider to make sure there is not a clause excluding me coverage because I overdosed on butter. The thought of having to pay quadruple bypass surgery out of pocket makes my shiver.
The bread started innocently in that I put the butter on the counter overnight to reach room temperature (thanks Nicole at Pinch My Salt and Judy at No Fear Entertaining for this advice). Went to bed, woke up at 6 a.m. (not by choice but my cat who weighs all five pounds was scared she was going to starve to death if I did not feed her then), assembled the dough, and let it relax in the fridge. While the dough relaxed in the fridge I kept myself occupied with such joyful house chores as installing a fence around the perimeter of the garden to keep a pesky wabbit out, planted more pepper plants to replace the fallen pepper plants that said wabbit ate, and other yard work.
After a good six hours passed I formed the dough into two loaf pans and let them rest of the counter. For once I did not find myself nervously pacing about, cursing, mumbling, or marking the height of the dough on the pan every fifteen minutes to prove that my baby was really growing. Maybe the bread devil sensed my new fond confidence and decided I needed to be knocked down a couple pegs. After three hours I checked my dough baby to find it filled out the bottom of the pan but not a heck of a lot of vertical growth. Hmmm….well this is probably just dough puberty and eventually it will grow and become a pillar of beauty that all breads aspire to. Couple more hours later I finally realized my dough was destined for a life of mediocrity; I grudgingly gave it an egg wash and shoved it in the oven. Even though the brioche lacked a proper height it still tasted amazing.
On Sunday the bread gods were definitely shining on me as I decided to experiment by turning the remaining 1/3 of the dough into hamburger buns. The rich man’s brioche made the perfect hamburger bun with its buttery goodness and flaky texture. If I was to ever make this brioche again hamburger buns would definitely be the driving reason.
So without any further rambling I present you with brioche…..
The hamburger patties were simply freshly ground chuck, salt, and pepper. I decided instead of covering up those beautiful grill marks with a slab of cheese to mix in grated habanero cheddar cheese with the ground chuck.
My question to all the bakers what in the heck could cause a dough not to properly rise? The major glaring item I have read is yeast but that is brand new from King Arthur.
Look like the perfect buns to me!
You got some nice buns…
I’ve done some reading on this so as to NOT have the rising issue I have seem so many BBA’s have. I read that you must BEAT the dough to within an INCH of its life before you add the butter.
So I am going to try that. Brioche starts tomorrow! Wish me el lucko!
Those buns look delicious!! I’m not sure about the rising problems, I know a few others have had that happen, too. but the cinnamon swirl loaf I did rose pretty well. My rolls didn’t rise as much, but I think I over-proofed them. Perhaps you should have just put the loaves in the oven after a few hours and they would have had more oven spring? I just don’t know.
Sorry you had trouble with it, but it looks so freaking good!
The brioche sticky buns I made said to let the dough in the fridge over night to rise, then let it come to room temp , shape and bake. Here is a link with videos of making brioche, maybe this will help you figure out the problem. http://www.melissamakesbread.com/brioche/
Your hamburger buns look fantastic, Don’t give up!!
It actually looks really tasty! Half the time I bake bread, it never rises. It’s a little depressing so I don’t blog about it.
They look pretty good to me and that burger is making my mouth water. I have the munchies so bad right now, ugh. You can always send me these buns if you aren’t happy…I can always taste test for you. Where do I sign up?
Really? They look so perfect to me! But then…with all that butter…yum. Lol about the insurance joke! You have the most interesting and humorous writing that never fails to amuse me!
ohhh yum. i loooove burgers. these look amazing with those buns!
I don’t know why they didn’t rise like you wanted. You sure gave them enough time. They look very tasty.
Susie
I can’t offer bread advice as I run into many of the same problems. I make my dough in my bread maker then pull it out to assemble. I don’t trust that I would mix it properly.
However, your buns/bread look good!!! I make my own hamburger buns sometimes (in fact I am today) too and I’ll never turn back!
For someone who doesnt care for baking you are doing a ton of it
Good job!
I like how you challenge with food if that makes sense, I read it all so quickly and engaged.
I saw a couple people complain that their brioche didn’t rise, so I’m guessing its a difficult dough in that respect. The buns though look heavenly!
I of course am no bread expert but I have made pizza dough enough times to know that sometimes the yeast just isn’t good, even if you’ve bought it fresh. It’s one of those quirks of baking.
And aren’t you quite the baker, calling your little concoction your “baby”! The hamburger buns look so good and you’ve got me craving a burger now even though it’s SO not grilling weather here today (it’s rainy). I’ve come to the conclusion that they call it rich man’s brioche not due to the amount of butter but because of all the money you will shell out in doctor’s bills after eating it. But you only live once right?
It’s so funny to find this today, I was thinking buger buns would be awesome made out of brioche!!! Hahahaha great minds think alike
If the yeast was new, another common problem is too much raising time. When the dough is left to rise for too long, it almost gets bored of rising and decides to deflate and ruin your baking experience. The weather also affects it, but I’ve found that to be less of a problem.
That look really cute, lol
Sorry Jeff, I know … I know … I shouldn’t laugh at someone pain, but what did you do that poor dough?
I made brioche countless times, don’t recall having such problem. I know that fat and yeast don’t like each other, so maybe there is something to do with the mixing? Anyway, I am not an expert so what important is the taste. As long as it tasted good, that will be okay …
Well, there goes my theory on the butter being too cold! My yeast was fresh as well. I did beat the dough really well. Just not sure what could have gone wrong!
Your buns look wonderful. I wish I had made some buns out of mine instead of throwing it out!
Mine came out kind of like yours. Maybe a little more rise. I did not have a lot of oven spring. I’m not sure if I over proofed or under proofed, but I followed the instructions exactly. I am going to proof less on my next time.
They are pretty, though, and sure taste good, don’t they?
They sure look really good.
“the amount of butter is so outrageous that I almost called my insurance provider to make sure there is not a clause excluding me coverage because I overdosed on butter.”
hilarious. oh yeah, i can see the buttery goodness all the way from here.
Jeff,
Taste is what counts. And it sounds like all of that butter tasted good in the end. I did the rich man’s version and I did “beat it within an inch of it’s life”
What I found is that because of all of that butter, when a free form bead (like buns) does the final rise without being contained, it basically “melts” a bit. I am thinking that chilling them and letting them rise much more slowly might work. However, I make Brioche Buns a lot, my usual recipe has far less butter and lots more eggs.
That is why they call this a challenge… it is one for all of us!
~devany, Hilo, HI
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
Oh…one more thing… you did let the egg and sponge and flour mixture rest for a while before adding the butter right?
Your post made me laugh! It always figures that when you get your confidence up, something will go wrong! I’m glad your hamburger buns came out so well, they look delicious!
I’m sorry, that burger looks too perfect to be real. I you sure you didn’t steal it from some kid’s plastic food playset? It just goes to show that despite your baked-goods-dabbling you’re still a grill man. That should make you happy!
water temperature - not enough sugar - not a warm enough room - those are my guesses
Brioche for hamburgers sound like the bomb! And your cat is bossy.
That burger looks beyond delicious and perfect. I love the idea of brioche buns.
Brioche is a scary dough. I made it just once and I remember piling the little balls into the pan and thinking, “Are these things really going to form into one larger loaf?” They did, but the loaf wasn’t very tall.
One day I want to make brioche dough into cinnamon buns!
We’re no bakers, so we have no clue what happened. We saw how you Twittered the burger bun discovery. Now that was a good way to recycle!
I’ve seen other bakers that their dough did not rise. I put mine in the oven with the light one. May help.
Your bread looks great, and that hamburger bun is incredible! Great job! One of these days, I have to start baking from that book.
Bread is a living thing, and responds differently every time. If they tasted good, that is all that matters. They look great to me!
Those hamburger buns (and burger) look amazing.
I wouldn’t blame the yeast unless your next loaf doesn’t rise either. I’ve made duplicate recipes where one rose and the other didn’t.
Forget the tingling arm, the buns look stunning! Do you deliver?
Hehe could you give my husband a few tips for doing things around the house?
Hmm about the dough, usually it’s the yeast but as you say it was new. Was the liquid too hot or not warm enough so that the yeast wasn’t activated? Still it looks golden good!
You conquered brioche 101 Jeff!!
For that tingling arm may I suggest some Nitro! Yeast can be a fussy little organism but your buns look fine anyway. Keep trying and don’t give up. Bread is always fun not matter how it turns out. Even my mess-ups (which is often) taste great.
Oh, man, those buns sure do look good. But with all that butter? I would pass out before I even had a chance to blog about it! I made the Middle-Class variation and it was plenty for me.
As for the rising, I think with brioche it would not be all that bad if you had a dense buttery bread.
Oh wow! That is a rich bread but I bet it tastes delicious! It looks pretty to me and I wouldn’t say no to it… :-p
Hey now, I’m a faithful reader. Why was I not invited over for one of these!? Hehe.
My brioche turned out just OK. I did the poor man’s, was a little dry but my casatiello turned out SO GOOD! It looks nicer than any cake I’ve ever made and the cheese added the perfect amount of moisture. Nom. Can’t wait to see how yours turns out.
My brioche turned out just like yours.
I’m trying again tonight. Hope it works out better. BTW, the burger is love, baby!
Can’t help you on the rising question… but they sure look good to me. Those must have been some amazing buns for the burgers!! What a decadent treat!
the fact that you were able to bake this is amazing already!!! great job…
I’m so sorry to hear that! I guess that the yeast might have got “killed” by the warmth of water or you didn’t let your dough rise enough…. Anyway, I’m sure they were delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
You are not alone.
I think it’s the butter. It makes it soooooooo heavy. And if you don’t get the gluten formed before adding the butter, the butter coats the flour and makes it harder for the yeast to get to it.
I had the opposite problem, believe it or not. I made the Middle Class Brioche, in the molds, and they all came out perfectly round. The dough got warm, oozed into one round ball instead of having the signature “handle” on top.
I haven’t been able to bring myself to take the photos yet even!
Not sure whether I’ve mentioned here or not. Making bread without professional way (I meant not like in bakery shops) can be quite challenging. One time, my mom and her friend were making bread together, side by side, using the same ingredients, put their dough in the same oven at the same time, everything the same except different hands were kneading the dough, guess what? The texture of the breads were totally different! One was high, soft and fluffy and the other one was compact and hard (like German bread). Weird, huh?
Read recently that hamburger buns should melt in your mouth like butter and it sounds like yours would meet this criteria!! Great idea for the Brioche! They look absolutely smashing!!
I think it is just a matter of time before each of us has a loaf failure. Aren’t you glad that you didn’t rush out and buy the specialty molds?
I can’t believe the amount of butter used, no wonder I love brioche. The buns are a terrific idea, I am sure they made your hamburger extra special.
I think the temperature of the water was probably too high and killed the yeast.
Check out my “green” pandan brioche at http://www.phamfatale.com/id_163/title_Pandan-and-Coconut-Brioche/