I resented this brioche. Never having made brioche before, I didn’t realize it was so needy. Measure, mix, knead, rest. Sure, fine. That’s the deal with homemade bread. But this required sustained attention that left me trudging back and forth to the kitchen every half hour, muttering to myself, “This better be good.”
Once the brioche dough comes together, the weary chef must punch it down every half hour, for over two hours. When it finally gives up and stops rising, it sits overnight in the refrigerator. And the dough is very sticky, like a big bowl of paste. This makes it difficult to shape and activates that little inner voice that says, “you may very well be doing this all wrong.”
Here’s the thing. I’ve got two kids under the age of 5. On the one hand, you might ask, what do you have going on after 8:00 pm anyway? The kids are in bed. Go punch down the dough and be quiet about it.
But that’s just it. It’s 8:00. The kids are in bed. My responsibilities for fulfilling other people’s (or bread dough’s) needs is done. But this dough demanded that I come back into the kitchen and slap it around.
And yet. It’s worth every punch, slap, and curse. The bread is heavenly — so light and so rich at the same time. The recipe calls for plums, but the apricots looked much better at the store, so that’s what I used.
The next morning, after the dough sat overnight, there was still more work to do. My 4-year-old, Sofia, was able to help. The dough had miraculously transformed from the consistency of hot tar into a lovely soft dough that could be handled with ease. Sofia happily buttered the tart pan and pushed the dough into its corners, while I chopped almonds and sliced apricots.
Enter my husband, Dave. Always ready to lend a hand, especially when we’re in the final stages of a Dorie Greenspan recipe, he offered to bake the tart. It’s not at all common for Dave to handle the baking, but my brother was visiting and we wanted to go for an early-morning run together. I left with a little wave, and reminded him to check on the brioche after 15 minutes, just to be sure it doesn’t get too dark. “Got it!” he said, cheerily.
Meanwhile, he turned to the various other tasks that awaited him. We had visitors coming, so he washed sheets, moved a bed from one room to the next, set out towels, all while managing our two kids on his own. The brioche got lost in the shuffle.
When I got back from the run, he was distraught, sure that he’d ruined the brioche. He looked miserable and announced that it was burned.
I took one look and said, “It’s not burned. It’s deeply caramelized.”
Parenting teaches you a few things. I’ve been trying to get my 4-year-old and my 2-year-old to share the same bedroom. Sometimes it works, and they lie there like perfect angels, so sweet and tender it makes you want to cry. Other times, my daughter turns on the light and capers around the room in her little brother’s diapers while he jumps up and down in his crib and watches the evening’s entertainment with undisguised glee. When I expressed my discouragement about this to my mom, she said: “They’re not misbehaving. They’re bonding.”
So keep an eye on that brioche, but rest assured that even if you let it go too far, the deeply caramelized edges are delicious.
Thank you to Denise of Chez Us for selecting this week’s recipe. You can find it on her blog or on pp. 54-55 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.
I have a two and a four year old too….I also burned the edges of my brioche but can’t blame it on my husband because I was the one who forgot it! Great post…
what a dear, your husband. And yes, the dough sure was needy, but worth all the wait. Well done with the final product too. It looks like a winner!
Amy, you write so beautifully! And that husband of yours is no slouch, either. 😉
The brioche looks wonderful. Funny – I’d never cooked w/ apricots until last night, when I made an apricot-cherry crumble. I think it would’ve been even better if the whole thing had been deeply caramelized.
Love your post, the life of parents is so demanding.
This look delicious!
Great job!
“Deeply caramelized” — now that is a lovely phrase indeed. I’ll have to keep that in my back pocket for future baking episodes….
This dish is so delicious — the brioche could not possibly have been more airy, fluffy, and tender. And, of course, with just the perfect amount of crispiness around the edges….
Your brioche looks awesome!
What a sweet story! And that is so sweet/sad that he thought he burned the tart! It looks gorgeous!
I have a four and (almost) two year old as well, so the picture you painted of the diapers, the jumping in the crib, etc is very familiar! As is the “it’s 8 p.m. Kids are finally in bed. And I have to nurture dough now?” feeling. In any event, your tart looks fabulous! Just looking at yours confirms that mine went horribly wrong somewhere along the way. I did achieve the deep carmelization, but not much else! Yours looks great, and I love the apricots!
Beautiful! I bet the apricots were delicious! 🙂
The children bonded; you and your brother bonded; hubby and the brioche bonded. Sounds like the perfect story. And a lovely photo, too. Well done!
Hmm.. that’s kind of how I describe my daughter. She’s not “stubborn;” she’s “tenacious.” She’s not “willfull;” she has a “strong personality.”
It does look perfect. Not too dark at all. Your poor husband, nothing worse than feeling like you ruined something. I was watching a movie while my dough was in the fridge and I turned the timer on for every 30 minutes and had to the pause the movie and slap it around. Nothing like watching a movie in 30 minute increments.
I loved your post, especially the part about sharing the bedroom. I read that out loud to my husband and we both had a chuckle. Our four kids are much older now but I remember those days like it was yesterday 🙂 The tart looks fabulous, doesn’t look burnt to me!
Your tart is gorgeous! I love that you used apricots!!
Great job! Mine was ‘deeply caramelized’ too and delicious 🙂
My mom always used to tell my little brother that burnt pancakes were chocolate! I love the apricots you used
wow!! look at how much your brioche rose!! great job – sorry it was so “kneady” 😛