To celebrate the beginning of the new year, we suggest making a brioche in the shape of a bunch of grapes.
It can be served as is or sprinkled with icing sugar, filled with cream, truffle. . .
It can be very interesting to serve it with starters and have our guests eat the brioche with pâté or cheese. The spicy, sweet flavor of the brioche and the salty flavor of the pâté or cheese contrast very well.
Ingredients (12 people approx.)
- 120 ml warm milk
- 7 g dry baker's yeast
- 500 g strong flour
- 70 g sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon anise liqueur
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pulp of 1 vanilla bean
- zest of a tangerine
- 3 eggs
- 90 g butter
To paint the brioche:
Filling (optional):
- whipped cream
- truffle
- cream
- chocolate cream
Preparation (2 hours approx.):
1. Heat the milk so that it is lukewarm. Add the yeast and mix. Reserve.
2. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, anise, spices, tangerine peel and eggs. Knead for 1 minute.
3. Add the eggs, butter and milk with the yeast. Knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and homogeneous. With lightly oiled hands, form the dough into a ball.
4. Grease a large container with oil and place the dough ball. Cover the container with plastic wrap and let the dough ferment for an hour.
5. Turn on the oven at 250ºC.
6. Weigh the dough and divide it into 13 equal portions. 12 portions will be for the grapes and 1 for making the stem of the bunch. For the bunch it will not be necessary to use the entire ball of dough, so whatever is left over can be distributed among the grape balls or to make grape leaves.
7. Make 12 balls and a thin churro to make the tail of the bunch (and if you want, make some leaves).
8. Cover a baking tray with sulfurized paper.
9. Place the 12 balls on the tray so that they form a cluster of grapes. It is important that the dough balls do not touch each other because in the oven they will grow and become deformed. We place the tail at the top.
10. Beat an egg with a tablespoon of milk and paint the entire bunch.
11. Place the tray at the bottom of the oven and lower the temperature to about 200Cº. Bake for about 25 minutes.
Cover the brioche with silver foil if it browns too quickly. You should be especially careful not to brown the tail too much, as it is thinner and could burn.
12. Remove the brioche from the oven and let it cool.
13. Once cold, if you want, can you fill it with cream, cream, truffle?
Bon appetit and happy new year!
