Monday, October 16, 2017

Mastering the Art of Baking: Brioche Buns, Meringue Cookies, and Soda Bread

This June, I had a day where I just really wanted to bake, so I picked a few recipes from my book and kept going until we ran out of eggs and flour. Here are the results.

I started with the recipe for brioche buns. These are delicious, which is probably because in addition to being a yeast bread, they also have a ton of butter and eggs thrown in. Because all of these ingredients retard the yeast (thanks, Paul Hollywood), brioche takes FOREVER to rise. By the time these were ready to bake, I had run out of eggs for the glaze, so they don't look as pretty and shiny as they should.


However, they tasted amazing. So rich, tender, buttery, flaky... mmmm.

They took a lot of work and time, so I won't be making them regularly, but for a special occasion? Absolutely.


Next, I made meringue cookies. Have you ever had a meringue cookie? I hadn't, and had no idea what they tasted like, or what their texture was like. Well, I love them! I want to make them all the time. (And yet I don't, because I'm lazy.)


I decided to pipe them into roses just because I can. And roses are prettier than dollops.

For the record, anytime I think about meringue cookies, I think it in Michel's accent from Gilmore Girls. (S2:E7 when he tells Lorelai he'll come and pick her up if she gets him low-fat American cheese and a meringue cookie.)

Finally, I made Irish soda bread. Everyone else loved this recipe, but all I could taste was baking soda, so this was not a winner for me.  But it was fun to make.


Love and Meringue,
Leah Joy

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