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 flour with 2 ounces of yeast and a little warm water in a pan. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
Make the dough
Make a hollow in the center of the remaining flour.
Add salt, sugar, and cream (or milk).
Add butter pieces and pour in the beaten eggs.
Work the mixture 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 the paste out and knead in the leaven until well combined.
Rest and shape
Dust a cloth with flour, roll the brioche in it, and place it in a pan.
Set it in a cool place in summer or a warm place in winter.
Use the dough the next day.
Knead it again and shape into uniform balls.
Press your thumb into the top of each ball to create a hollow.
Brush with egg wash and place a smaller ball in each hollow.
Glaze again with egg yolk.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes.
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together and lets it rise.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become airy.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness by coating flour strands with fat.
- Eggs
- Add richness, moisture and structure, and help the crumb set and brown.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown in the oven.
- Cream or milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the dough.
The step that matters
Keep the paste firm when adding eggs. Too much liquid from the eggs makes the dough soft and sticky, so it becomes hard to knead and may not hold its shape. Add extra eggs only if needed and stop once the paste is firm enough to handle.
“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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