Brioche with Pistachio Praline Swirl
Last Sunday I prepared some sweet treats for my little one. She “helped” which meant spending a portion of the afternoon licking batter and dipping cheeky fingers in marshmallow buttercream. ‘Sugar, sugar’ by the Archies was playing on the radio and we had a ball. But when all was said and done I still felt like playing in the kitchen but wanted to make something a bit more “grown up”. Something just a little bit naughty, one last hurray before the end of the weekend. I them remembered I had a bag of roasted pistachio in the house which just begged to be used. That’s when I decided to make this braided beauty.
Feel free to play with this recipe by changing the filling. I’ve got a mind myself to try do this again with a hazelnut and cocoa filling or walnut and honey… Let me know if you try a different combination, I’d love to hear how that went.
Brioche:
400g Plain flour
7g Instant yeast
200ml Milk, warm (about 90F)
2 Eggs (+1 egg for eggwash)
3 Tbsp Honey
35g Salted butter, soft
1 tsp salt
Pistachio praline (adapted from Ricardo):
65g Shelled pistachio, unsalted
3 Tbsp Sugar
55g Salted butter, soft
1 Egg
2 tsp Arrowroot powder
½ tsp Vanilla extract
¼ tsp Salt
The Brioche
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook (or any large bowl if you are planning on kneading this by hand), add the flour and the yeast.
In a separate bowl (I used a large measuring jug), add the milk, the eggs, the honey and the butter (you can mix it a little if you want but there’s no need).
Add the wet ingredient to the dry ingredients. Add the salt and mix on low speed for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. It may still be quite tacky but shouldn’t be wet. Resist the temptation to add more flour at this point.
Shape in a rough ball by folding the dough upon itself a few times before covering the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to rest at room temperature for about 90 min or until the dough has doubled in size.
While you wait, prepare the filling
La Crème Pralinée
In a food processor, grind the pistachio to a coarse powder.
Add all the remaining ingredients and process until smooth and onctuous. Keep covered until needed.
Assemble your Masterpiece
Lightly oil or butter a loaf pan (I used a 2lbs loaf pan but you could divide the dough and make two smaller loafs)
When your dough is ready transfer onto a well floured surface.
Roll into a rectangle of about 45 x 20cm. Lift and move your dough as you work to make sure it doesn’t stick.
Spread the filling onto the entire surface, keeping a 5cm border free of any filling along one of the long sides.
Roll the dough, along the long edge into a tight spiral (think swiss roll)
Place your roll gently into the loaf pan and let rise for another 40min.
20min into the second rise, preheat the over to 400F / Gas mark 6.
Beat the remaining egg with a bit of milk and brush the dough with the egg wash. Bake for 25-30 min or until the top is golden brown.
Remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack