Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Brioche, or French Paste
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the leaven
Separate 8 ounces of flour to make the leaven.
Mix the leaven flour with yeast and a little warm water in a pan. Cover the pan with a cloth and let it rise near the fire for about 20 minutes.
Mix and knead the dough
Make a hollow in the center of the remaining flour.
Add salt, sugar, cream (or milk), and butter pieces to the hollow.
Pour the beaten eggs over the mixture and work it with your hands until smooth.
If needed, add 1 or 2 more eggs, but ensure the paste is not too soft.
Once the leaven has risen, spread it over the paste and knead well.
Cut the dough into small portions and mix again to incorporate the leaven evenly.
Shape and bake
Dust a cloth with flour and roll the brioche in it.
Place the dough in a pan.
Set it in a cool place in summer and a warm place in winter.
Use it the next day, knead it again, and shape into uniform balls.
Hollow the tops by pressing your thumb into them.
Brush the hollows with egg.
Place a smaller ball in each hollow.
Glaze again with egg yolk.
Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine dry flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the brioche its structure.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add richness, moisture and structure to the soft dough.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and gives a rich flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the dough.
The step that matters
Keeping the paste not too soft. Adding too much liquid or egg makes the dough slack and hard to handle, so it may not hold its shape or rise well. Add extra egg only as needed and judge the texture by feel.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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