lemon curd brioche bun

Growing up, my breakfast wasn't the typical cereal and juice. Instead, I had pineapple buns and red bean swirl bread. I think my love for bread started out very young. Finding a left over bag of lemons, I began googling anything lemon and bread related. Finally deciding to take a stab at making a filled bread bun. Luckily, my Cooks Illustrated cookbook has a recipe for a quick brioche dough, perfect for turning into buns rather than the typical brioche a tete.

The brioche recipe was probably one of the more simply and less time consuming bread recipes I've experimented with over the last year. The original recipe only required one rise! Unheard of in bread baking, I thought, but how could Cooks Illustrated do me wrong? And of course, Cooks Illustrated is virtually never wrong, since the bread did come out super soft and texturally authentic to is French heritage.

The lemon curd was just a bit tangy for the barely sweet bread. Tasting the curd alone was fine, but when paired with the brioche, it overpowered the subtle buttery flavor. I would suggest adding a bit more sugar to the curd to ensure a better balanced bread bun. For a first try in filled buns, it was still a delightful breakfast item with a perky tangy bite.

Lemon Curd from Cooks Illustrated


1/4 cup lemon juice
3/8 cup sugar
small pinch of salt
1 large egg plus 1 1/2 large yolks
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled

Heat lemon juice, sugar, and salt in small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot but not boiling, about 1 minute.

Whisk egg and egg yolks together in a medium bowl, then slowly whisk in hot lemon mixture to temper. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and 170 degrees.

Off heat, stir in butter until melted and incorporated. Press plastic wrap to surface and chill.

Quick Brioche adapted from Cooks Illustrated


1/2 cup milk, heated to 110 degrees
2 1/4 tsp rapid-rise yeast
2 1/4 cups AP flour
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs

Whisk milk and yeast together in medium bowl, then stir in 1 cup flour. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Pulse butter, sugar, and salt in food processor until mixture is soft and smooth, about 5 pulses, scraping down bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, and process after each addition until fully incorporated. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and yeast-flour mixture, pulse until mixture forms soft, smooth dough, then process continuously for 15 seconds. Transfer dough to well-floured counter and knead by hand to form smooth and elastic ball. Transfer to oiled bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until about doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Assemble and Bake


Scrape out dough and cut into six pieces. Form a piece into a ball and flatten slight to prepare for filling. Spoon about a tbsp of the chilled curd in the center and wrap dough around to form a filled ball. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover lightly for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, turning halfway through.

christmas dinner

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I had a nice and quiet family dinner, only made special by our menu and presents. No, we did not start with dessert, but I couldn't help but start this post with a picture of it. I'm starting to love the way desserts look served in a glass, simple yet elegant.

So I started cooking dinner by roasting a medley of vegetables scented with smashed garlic and sage leaves. The Brussels sprouts and potatoes are always a crowd-pleaser during the holiday meals, so I figured why not combine both dishes into one and add some carrots for extra color and flavor. Worked out very well, but remember not to overcrowd the pan, or else the veggies won't brown well.

I started to include a rice dish in our holiday meals last year, because my brother's girlfriend doesn't eat meat, so she needs a carb dish to satisfy her stomach. I changed it up by making a roasted butternut squash risotto. I never had to prep a butternut squash before, so let me warn you that the flesh is very hard and you need to be careful when peeling it. I cut the end off and cut right across the beginning of the bulb, that way you have a flat platform to peel and dice.

And the piece de resistance...horseradish crusted prime rib. I tried a new recipe this year, courtesy of Tyler Florence and Food Network. It was a beautiful medium rare, juicy, and flavorful rack of meat. My only complaint was that the crust was beyond salty and even the outer areas of beef were quite salty. The horseradish was completely lost in the sodium laden crust, practically defeating its entire existence. But thank goodness the prime rib was still tasty once you cut off the crust.

Dessert? Well that was a lemon curd with vanilla bean and cardamom mousse verrine. I didn't have any meyer lemons, so I used a combination of lemon juice/zest and orange juice/zest. As for the mousse, I substituted half a teaspoon of ground cardamom in place of the pods. To add texture, I added the crumble topping from my blueberry muffins. Just spread the crumble on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, just until golden.

And how do you know if dinner was a success? When you see this...

This will be my last post for 2011. Have a Happy New Year, everyone!