Chocolate Brioche Rolls and Paris Boulangerie Tour

Last month I visited Paris and my trip ended up being more of a gastronomic tour than anything else, you can read more about it here. As part of our trip we visited Le Petit Mitron bakery for a behind the scenes boulangerie tour. This trip inspired me to try making bread as it's something I'm rarely brave enough to make. Obviously following my trip I wanted to make something French, so I plumped for brioche and this particular version has chocolate in it too.

I didn't really read the recipe very well until I was about to start and it was only then I realised that the bread had to be made in a stand mixer with a bread hook. I've never made bread in my K-Mix before so was slightly worried how it would turn out but I thought I'd give it a go. I prefer to do things by hand but this was such as sticky dough that it's a good job I didn't!

Brioche is a highly enriched bread, there were six eggs, 250g butter, melted chocolate and milk all included in the recipe.

When first made the bread was left to rise in the airing cupboard for 2 hours, it was then knocked back and put in the fridge overnight. Then in the morning it was lightly kneaded before being shaped into the rolls before being put back in the airing cupboard for another hour. The last time it went in to rise it was put in a plastic bag that was slightly inflated!

Finally, the rolls were brushed with milk and baked for 10 minutes. These brioche moulds are 7cm in diametre...the recipe suggested 8cm so they were a little bit too large when they came out of the oven but by using the moulds you get a lovely traditional fluted edge.

These chocolate brioche rolls turned out better than expected and would be perfect warm straight out of the oven for breakfast. They could have perhaps done with a minute or two longer in the oven but overall I was pleased with the result.

I also thought I'd share with you some of the things we learnt on the boulangerie tour:

Interesting Fact # 1: French bakeries cannot call themselves a Boulangerie unless they make their bread from scratch on the premises. This law was brought in to halt the decline of the traditional bakery. Therefore the French chain 'Paul' cannot call itself a boulangerie as they bake their bread from frozen and the products are made offsite and delivered daily.

Our boulanger for the day was Didier. He makes hundreds of baguettes a day at all hours of the day as locals pop in before work, at lunchtime and also on their way home. He also makes a special baguette called La Parisse which must be made in a very specific way in order to be called by this name, it is made with natural leaven and has a traditional flavour. You can see La Parisse in the picture below with it's distinctive knob on the top. It even has to be slashed on the top in a particular way!

Didier uses a high quality butter in his breads, it's pure butter and is AOC which means it must be produced to very specific standards like the La Parisse baguette. This butter is purchased in 2kg blocks of which there were many in the bakery's industrial sized fridge.

Following the explanation and demonstration of the baguette production we even had a go at rolling our own croissants...they weren't bad but certainly not as good as Didier's!

Interesting Fact # 2: A croissant that isn't 100% butter cannot be straight but if it is 100% pure butter then it can be any shape it likes! So in general a straight croissant = 100% pure butter, a curved croissant = less than 100% pure butter.

Interesting Fact # 3: Croissants only have about 10g of butter in each one...which doesn't sound so bad when you put it like that...they could even be considered healthy! ;-)

Interesting Fact # 4: Croissants did not originate in France. They are widely believed to have originated in Vienna when it was undersiege from the Turks. When the Turks were defeated local bakers produced a pastry to celebrate which resembled the Turkish cresent...et voila the croissant was born!

If you look at the picture below you can also see that when a proper croissant is baked and then cut or broken in half you can see the layers from the pastry circling inside. This is as a result of the process by which the dough is made, it is a puff pastry which is repeatedly rolled and folded with generous amounts of butter to create the layers.

We also tried our hand at rolling Pain au Chocolat which was a little easier than the croissants as it is just a straight roll. Didier puts two chocolate sticks in each one to ensure it is suitably chocolately.

Interesting Fact # 5: The chocolate used is made especially for baking as it is has a very high glucose content which prevents it from completely melting and possibly burning during the baking process.

Another of Didier's specialities are Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Escargot or snails...very similar to a Pain au Raisin. You can also see in the picture below that he has a special machine to roll out his pastry perfectly... I WANT ONE!

We booked our tour with Viator and I was slightly dubious as to how authentic and intersting it would be, especially at £16 but I was very pleasantly surprised as it was genuinely interesting and Didier was so keen to share his craft with us. The tour was supposed to last one hour but we were there for around an hour and a half and we also came away with croissants and bread. I'd recommend it if you're heading to Paris anytime soon.

 

And so to this month's challenges. First up it's Calendar Cakes with the theme being bread, rolls and buns. Calendar Cakes is hosted by yours truly and alternately by Rachel over at Dolly Bakes.

This month's We Should Cocoa is being hosted by Nazima from Franglais Kitchen with it's regular home being at Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Teapot. These chocolate brioche fit the theme of bread and chocolate.

Finally, I'm also entering them into the breakfast club as these really would be perfect on a Sunday morning with the papers, orange juice and a coffee! This month it is hosted by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog with it's regular spot being over at Fuss Free Flavours.

 

Ingredients

150g plain chocolate (the recipe suggested Waitrose Plain Chocolate with Coffee...I just used plain)
500g Very Strong White Flour
7g sachet McDougalls Fast Action Dried Yeast
6 large eggs, room temperature
250g unsalted butter
75g caster sugar
2 tbsp milk to glaze

Melt the chocolate along with the milk in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted remove from the heat and leave to one side to cool.

Sift the flour, yeast and 1 tsp salt in a free standing mixer with a dough hook. In a jug beat the six eggs lightly and then with the mixer on it's lowest speed, pour the eggs in a little at a time. Once all the eggs have been added, scrape down the sides and then add the chocolate mixture and mix again until the ingredients are all combined. Scrape down again and then knead the dough for 5 minutes on the lowest speed.

Put the butter and sugar into a separate bowl and then cream them together until creamy. Then add this mixture to the dough a little at a time with the machine running at it's lowest speed. Scrape down and then knead the dough again for another 5 minutes. The dough will be very soft and sticky! The dough is now ready to rise, cover with a lid or clingfilm and then leave in a warm place for 2 hours - the dough should double in size.

Once the dough has risen, ensure you have floured your fingers and then punch down the risen dough, this should deflate it. It will resemble a chocolate mousse or cake mix at this point so don't be alarmed. Cover the dough back over and then put it in the fridge and chill until firm and doubled in size again. It should be left for at least 4 hours or overnight if you'd prefer.

To make the brioche you can either use a 12 hole muffin tin or a 2 x 6 hole brioche shaped tray. I used 8cm individual brioche moulds with fluted edges (makes 18). Whichever you choose they should be well buttered. Turn the dough out and knead carefully for 1 minute. Divide the dough in equal portions as required. If using the muffin tray split into 12 and 18 for brioche moulds.

To make the traditional brioch shape, pinch off a small ball of dough from each portion and roll it out smoothly, it should be about the size of a hazelnut. With the remaining dough from each portion make a smooth ball and place it carefully into each muffin hole. Flour your index finger and push it into the middle of each ball of dough in the tray and then place the smaller ball on top of this indent. Put this tray into a large plastic bag, inflate a little and then leave to rise until it has doubled in size. This will take 1 hour in a warm place or overnight in the fridge.

To bake, preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6. Take the brioche out of the plastic bag and brush with milk to glaze. Bake for 18-20 minutes if using the muffin tray, 10 minutes if the 8cm brioche moulds. Leave to cool in the mould for a minute or so before turning out onto a wire rack. You can eat these warm or alternatively they'll keep for 24 hours in an airtight tin. You can also freeze them for upto 1 month.

* Adapted from www.waitrose.com - recipes

Gastronomic Tour of Paris

Last week I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Paris...and what did we do whilst we were there? Eating, eating and more eating! This seems to be a common theme of my recent holidays! Our trip was certainly more gastronomic than cultural. I thought I would share with you my foodie ramblings here...

 

It all started at Searcy's at St.Pancras where we headed for a pre-Eurostar breakfast. It's a glamorous start to a trip to Paris and I had a very tasty bacon roll with a fried egg...although the fried egg on the side cost an extra £2...I could buy a box of eggs for that!

If you're heading to Paris and it's past breakfast time...there's always the champagne bar at St.Pancras to set you off on the right foot! ;-)

 

Having arrived in Paris our first stop was a dinner at A la Biche au Bois which is a traditional French restaurant. It's a little unassuming but perhaps these are the best kinds of restaurant. It came highly recommended online and served a number of French classics.

I opted for the special of the day, Pheasant and my companions had the house special...Coq au Vin. To finish it was Creme Caramel. It was certainly a good meal and A la Biche au Bois fitted the recommendation earlier from a French local who suggested that to pick a good restaurant, it shouldn't have an English menu, it should be full of locals and you shouldn't arrive before around 8.30pm!

The next morning we woke up early and walked around an hour and fifteen minutes to work up an appetite for our next gastronomic experience...a French cookery class in a Parisien appartment. I was a little unsure whether this would just be a bit touristy and underwhelming as we booked it on trip website Viator but in fact it was a most amazing experience.

We really were cooking in someone's home and our host Marthe and her partner had run a French restaurant for the previous 25 years. There were only 4 of us on the course. We begun by making a rather unusual starter of avocado and kiwi salad with goats cheese and sun dried tomatoes. The dressing was just lemon juice and honey. I really didn't think I'd like this but it tasted soooo good!

The main was a duck breast with a shallot, cider vinegar and honey sauce. We also produced glazed carrots to go with the duck.

For dessert we made an Apple Flognarde which is a traditional Limousin dessert and is similar to a Clafoutis. This was really delicious as it also contained dried plums and the finished dessert was a little flan like.

Just before we sat down to eat Marthe took us to her local bakery which was literally just around the corner about 30 seconds away. There were even views of the Eiffel Tower to be had! And how I wish my local bakery was like this one....Des Gateaux et Du Pain. We picked up some fresh bread and then returned to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

 

To wash down the meal we tried two different wines... my favourite was the Minervois wine from the Languedoc region of France. I would certainly recommend a bottle or two of this.

Another company which we investigated for cookery courses in Paris was La Cuisine Paris who offer a range of courses including making French pastries. They appear to be well recommended and I'd definitely give them a go next time I'm in Paris.

Following our delicious lunch we thought we ought to try and squeeze in at least a little culture so we headed to the Musee D'Orsay ...and what did we find that but yet more food! Behind one of the clocks of the Musee D'Orsay is a cafe which is on the fifth floor. It's rather stylish and the speciality seemed to be foot long eclairs which most people seemed to be eating, so it would have been rude not to join in! I tried the pistachio one and although it was nice it didn't blow me away...although I'd go back just for the location. You could even see the Sacre Coeur through the glass in the clock.

On our way to the Musee D'Orsay we went to La Patisserie des Reves as recommended by Eric Lanlard when I asked him what his favourite patiserie was in Paris at the recent Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Masterclass. Patisserie des Reves was also recommended by Frank Hiss, Head Chef of Laduree UK...but only after having visited Laduree of course! There is only one of each pastry on display here, each under it's own individual glass dome. The pastries were amazing although I was a little disappointed that there was nowhere to sit down and enjoy them but apparently there is at the other Patisserie des Reves bakery.

Finally, to round off a great day we took a little trip on a bateau mouche to see Paris by night!

The next day after all this eating we had to loosen our belts before heading out to yet another foodie destination....we had booked in for a Boulangerie tour. Again when we booked I wasn't quite sure how this would go but again it was such a great experience...more on this to follow in a future blog post. If you're doing Paris on a budget this is still affordable too at only £16.

We then headed up the Champs Elysees in search of Laduree. Now this is a little touristy as there was a queue of distinctly un-French tourists lined up out the door...I'm sure none of the locals come here for their baked goods. However, it is a quintessential foodie destination, so we joined the queue and waited patiently for our table. Once there we enjoyed a lovely cup of tea along with the following delights:

My Laduree pastry of choice...the Divin which is a cross between a macaroon and a meringue. Inside is a nougat creme mousseline, fresh raspberries and a raspberry compote/jelly. It's got a lovely bite to it and is something a little bit different.

After a late afternoon nap we went out for dinner at Kong restaurant. Kong has been around for a few years and Sarah Jessica Parker even visited in and episode of Sex in the City (as you can see on the video below). There is an uber-trendy bar where you can enjoy a few drinks or cocktails and then it's up to the glass domed restaurant which overlooks the Seine. At night the restaurant has a really great vibe and you can see Paris at night through the dome which surrounds you. If you want amazing food then this isn't the place for you...the food was nice and they even do Pierre Herme desserts but it's really the buzzy amibience which is the draw.

Whilst at Kong our waitress recommended L'Arc restaurant and nightclub which overlooks L'Arc de Triomphe. We didn't visit but apparently it's a draw for celebs if that's your thing. However, the online reviews of the food didn't look too favourable.

 

On our final day before heading back to catch the Eurostar we decided to visit a few patisseries in amongst some shopping in order to stock up on some final goodies.

 

Our first stop was Stohrer which is the oldest pastry shop in Paris and has been open since 1730. It was certainly impressive and came complete with chandeliers!

We also took the time to visit Dehillerin which was recommended by Marthe our French cookery teacher...it really is a quite incredible kitchen paraphenalia shop. It's enormous...and you might imagine that there would be one or two people in there but it was in fact elbow to elbow! You can purchase everything under the sun...there was even a cooking pan/saucepan that I could have quite happily fitted into...although I didn't try! ;-) Worth a visit and it seems that many professional chefs often visit too.

Finally, we visited the Galeries Lafayette foodhall...not a patch on the Harrods foodhall but still worth a visit. I managed to buy a bottle of the Minervois wine we had for lunch at Marthe's and also some Pierre Herme macaroons.

Then last but not least it was off to Le Marche au Enfants Rouges which has a range of food stalls and we picked up some cheese from the Fromagerie just by the entrance.

You can also enjoy a meal in the market with a number of market restaurants offering Bento boxes, Italian and even Jamacian amongst others. It can be a little crowded but certainly a pleasant experience which provides a change from your usual restaurant.

So I probably came home about half a stone heavier but I really enjoyed this gastronomic experience. C'etait magnifique! My favourite thing... it has to be the quintessential Parisien cooking class...really a thing to remember!

 

So what did we do on the train home....eat? After all that...we slept! As per usual this has turned into a very long culinary ramble but if you are a planning a trip to Paris I hope it has given you some ideas of great gastronomic places to visit. Bon Appetit!