Lemon and Currant Brioches

Happy 2013 everyone! I hope everyone had wonderful holidays with lots of delicious baked goods. I did make a lot of cookies, of course, but travel and family occupied my time and so I didn't do a great job of documenting them. I do have some delicious recipes for the new year, though, including some experiments with my brand new waffle maker (which I am very excited about). Here is a slightly older recipe for a lemon and currant brioche. It looks beautiful and was very good but I think this recipe was a better one so I'd recommend adding 1/3 cup of currants (I actually used  raisins) and the zest of 1 lemon to that recipe. The dough in the previous recipe was sticky so it was harder to work with, but this result was more dense. It could also be that I didn't knead it quite as well as I ought.

In unrelated to food news, I'm really looking forward to a trip to Hawaii we're taking this week! We're leaving on Thursday for a long weekend and I am excited. It is Cory's first time and we're planning on surfing, snorkeling and taking a trapeze class. I just launched a big project at work so I am looking forward to the break. I will be bringing my camera so hopefully some good pictures, but I am notoriously bad at forgetting to take pictures. I lugged my camera all the way to Massachusetts for Christmas and don't think I took it out of its case the entire time. In food related news, I promise loads of delicious waffle recipes soon!

Lemon Currant Brioche

2 cups bread flour
2 tsps active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup dried currants
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsps lukewar water (130F)
2 eggs, beaten (room temperature)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
GLAZE
1 egg beaten
1. Butter 12 individual brioche molds. Into a bowl, sift flour. Stir in yeast, salt, sugar, currants and lemon zest.
2. Make a well in center. Pour in water, eggs and melted butter and beat vigorously to make a soft dough.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Put dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place 1 hour, until doubled in bulk.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, re-knead and roll into a rope shape. 5. Cut into 12 equal pieces. Shape three quarters of each piece into a ball and place in prepared molds.
6. With floured finger, press a hole in center of brioche Shape remaining dough into little plugs, then press into holes, flattening the tops slightly. 7. Place msods on a baking sheet. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until dough comes almost to top of molds.
8. Preheat oven to 425F. Brush broiches with beaten egg. Bake 15l minutes, until golden-brown. Serve warm.

From The Book of Afternoon Tea by Lesley Mackley

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