The other day I ventured into the realm of making my own bread. I finally got sick of paying $5-6 a gluten free loaf at the store and was convinced that I could make it myself. I was right!
Brioche is a french bread typically made of flour, eggs, and yeast. It's started in a cool oven and still bakes quickly.
This recipe makes 2 medium sized loaves. Enjoy and let me know how it turns out for you.
Ingredients:
2 T active dry yeast
1 C warm milk (I used rice)
2 C Carol's Sorghum Blend (See directions below)
1 C Potato starch
2 T sugar
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp guar gum
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp salt (I used redland's real salt)
1/4 C (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or buttery spread (I used earth balance)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice or cider vinegar ( I used apple cider vinegar)
1 large egg, beaten for egg wash (optional, but I did it)
** Notes:
I had to go to several stores to find all of the ingredients. I ended up with several bags of Bob's Red Mill products and some baggies from the bulk section.
The recipe calls for using a french bread pan. I spent two days looking at every lace in town trying to find one. When I finally found the one and only, it was $22! I decided to bake the bread on a cookie sheet instead and it seemed to work just fine. If you want a more authentic shape and better cooking try Target for a good priced french bread pan.
Last note, it's important to have all of your ingredients be room temp so place them all on the counter, take a shower, and then come back to start your baking.
Directions:
1. Make a batch of Carol's Sorghum Blend. This can be used in place of all purpose flour in many recipes. It is used a lot in this cook book so I often make double batches.
1 1/2 C sorghum flour
1 1/2 C potato/corn starch
1 C tapioca flour
Sift together and store in a tightly sealed container. Can be chilled or frozen, but bring to room temp before using.
2. In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm milk. Set aside to foam for 5 minutes.
3. Generously grease a French bread pan or line with parchment paper. I used earth balance on a cookie sheet.
4. Sift together sorghum blend, potato starch, sugar, xanthan gum, and guar gum and set aside. My wrists don't like me to sift that much flower so I put them in a bowl and whited them with a small fine whisk to break up the lumps.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat eggs on high for 1 minute. Add salt, butter, lemon juice, and yeast-milk mixture. Beat on low speed to blend.
6. Add flour mixture and beat on high speed to blend until dough thickens slightly, stirring down sides with spatula. Dough will be soft and sticky.
7. Divide dough into two parts and transfer to baking pans. Use wet silicone spatula to gently shape the loaves being careful to create even width and height.
8. Brush with egg wash and make 3 diagonal slashes into each loaf. I food the egg wash wanted to run off onto the pan so I poured the excess off before putting it into the over.
9. Place on middle rack in cold over. Set over to 450 degrees and bake 30-35 minutes or until nicely browned.
10. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
Results:
This bread looks like artisan bread, has a bit of a crust, and nice fluffy texture inside. It is a little bland for my preference, but it sure is nice to have hot out of the oven bread that I can eat without feeling bad later. I may play around with using some more whole grain flours like teff, brown rice, almond, or oatmeal to try to create a more rustic hearty bread. I tend to be a fan of the multigrain seeded breads so this was a bit simple for me, but it was a great place to start. I think it will make great toast, croutons, and french toast.
Bon Appetit!
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