I LOVE brioche.love making it and Love eating it. These look stunning and reading through the science of it all is excellent. Will share with my bread making friends.
One observation: I bake panettone, brioches and shokupan. In collecting and analyzing many "modern" panettone recipes, I see two schools. In the traditional or European approach, there is a heavy emphasis on yolks and to a lesser degree, butter. The resulting crumb is eggy, moist and stretchy. The glutinous dough expands around gas pockets, and as long as the bake temperature is held down, permits a longer period of oven spring before gelling/solidifying. This approach can contribute to enhanced alveolation when used with a very active lievito madre.
What I think of as the "American" approach uses a leaner dough, considerably less yolk, which is somewhat offset by more butter to retain tenderness. Fermentation becomes more important in order to alter the gluten network and enhance elasticity/volume/alveolation. The crumb is still moist, but not overly eggy.
I’m very interested in vegan subs in breads. I use coconut milk powder and plant butter in my shokupan. Would prefer to avoid soy if possible due to allergy concerns.
What a wonderful deep-dive into the world of enriched dough! Parker House Rolls are something I'm seeing an awful lot on restaurant menus at the moment and I can't get enough, even if their butteriness and my cackhandedness does have me always making a mess as I tear into them 😂
I’ve been using liquid lecithin to make my non-stick oil and have far too much to add powdered lecithin to my pantry. What is the equivalent weight of liquid to powder? I think I can use the viscosity to coat a known surface area such as a skewer or tip of a spoon.
Just wondering, the water contents of a large yolk and a large white are 8.5 and 34g respectively, but a large egg's water content is 38, but 8.5 + 34 doesn't add up to 38....
When i worked at a gluten-free kosher bakery, we relied on aquafaba (very conveniently the place also made hummus) and JustEgg (which i understand is mostly water and mung-bean protein) to do the work of eggs as needed, as well as xanthan gum. (side note, GF bread is actually easier to execute with eggs.) Very interested in your pureed root vegetable/squash enrichment forays.
Have you tried using silken tofu + soy milk in vegan enriched breads? Both contain lecithin that might help with emulsifying.
We'll get there! Today is about eggs. 😉
I LOVE brioche.love making it and Love eating it. These look stunning and reading through the science of it all is excellent. Will share with my bread making friends.
One observation: I bake panettone, brioches and shokupan. In collecting and analyzing many "modern" panettone recipes, I see two schools. In the traditional or European approach, there is a heavy emphasis on yolks and to a lesser degree, butter. The resulting crumb is eggy, moist and stretchy. The glutinous dough expands around gas pockets, and as long as the bake temperature is held down, permits a longer period of oven spring before gelling/solidifying. This approach can contribute to enhanced alveolation when used with a very active lievito madre.
What I think of as the "American" approach uses a leaner dough, considerably less yolk, which is somewhat offset by more butter to retain tenderness. Fermentation becomes more important in order to alter the gluten network and enhance elasticity/volume/alveolation. The crumb is still moist, but not overly eggy.
I’m very interested in vegan subs in breads. I use coconut milk powder and plant butter in my shokupan. Would prefer to avoid soy if possible due to allergy concerns.
Working on it! Alas, soy is one of the richest sources of lecithin after egg yolks
What a wonderful deep-dive into the world of enriched dough! Parker House Rolls are something I'm seeing an awful lot on restaurant menus at the moment and I can't get enough, even if their butteriness and my cackhandedness does have me always making a mess as I tear into them 😂
Thank you, Jack! Have you seen these?
https://newsletter.wordloaf.org/p/recipe-parker-house-swolls
Well they look fabulous! Hold on whilst I grab a bowl of soup 😂
So interesting and helpful!
I’ve been using liquid lecithin to make my non-stick oil and have far too much to add powdered lecithin to my pantry. What is the equivalent weight of liquid to powder? I think I can use the viscosity to coat a known surface area such as a skewer or tip of a spoon.
Just wondering, the water contents of a large yolk and a large white are 8.5 and 34g respectively, but a large egg's water content is 38, but 8.5 + 34 doesn't add up to 38....
good catch, Jo. I've updated it now.
Is there any difference in baking results between fresh eggs, and separated egg products (whites and yolks) available in cartons?
I don’t think there should be, since pasteurization doesn’t change any of the properties eggs provide. But I haven’t tested them
Truly brilliant title! Am inspired to attempt an enriched bread now, too.
I use ground flaxseed boiled with water in place of egg in my vegan enriched doughs
Flaxseed is a decent binder (like egg whites), but it doesn’t work as an emulsifier like yolks.
This is wonderful, thank you!
When i worked at a gluten-free kosher bakery, we relied on aquafaba (very conveniently the place also made hummus) and JustEgg (which i understand is mostly water and mung-bean protein) to do the work of eggs as needed, as well as xanthan gum. (side note, GF bread is actually easier to execute with eggs.) Very interested in your pureed root vegetable/squash enrichment forays.
Those are decent egg-white replacements, but they don't do what yolks do for emulsifying fats.
This is a beauty, Andrew.