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Brioche Paste

A yeast dough made with flour, butter, eggs, milk, sugar, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Brioche Paste

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Brioche Paste

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the yeast starter

  1. Mix the yeast with a little tepid water and stir in enough flour to form a stiff batter.

  2. Let the mixture stand for 1 hour in a warm place.

Make the dough

  1. In a large bowl, combine the remaining flour, a good pinch of salt, and the beaten eggs.

  2. Warm the milk and melt the butter.

  3. Gradually add this mixture to the yeast batter.

  4. Mix together the contents of both bowls and knead well for at least 15 minutes.

Rise and bake

  1. Cover the dough and let it rise in a moderately cool place for 2 to 3 hours.

  2. Shape or mold the dough as desired.

  3. Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and chew.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and gives brioche its rich flavor.
Yeast
Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes it rise.
Eggs
Add structure, richness and moisture, helping the dough set and brown.
Milk
Adds moisture and milk solids that contribute softness and browning.
Castor sugar
Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning to the crust.

The step that matters

Kneading the dough for at least 15 minutes. Kneading develops the gluten network that traps the gas from the yeast. Under-kneading gives a dense, weak loaf, especially with so much butter and egg enriching the dough.

“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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