Brioche à Tête

Continent: Europe Country: France Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour

Brioche bread mostly seems to show up in French toast here in America, and I think I've seen it used in bun-form to contain hamburgers as well. This light, airy, buttery bread performs the first task admirably, and is ill served by the second. I chose to make brioche for a few reasons. First, the somewhat finicky dough makes frequent appearances on The Great British Bake Off. I admit that I like to pretend Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry would praise my efforts at trying something new, and maybe Berry would even call the peach jam I made (the buns were baked primarily as a vehicle for the jam) "scrummy."

The other reason I chose brioche à tête  revolves around fond memories of trying them with my family. I actually don't remember where or when we did, only that we sat together, and my sister and I thought it was fun to pull off the little "hats" and eat them first. My little brioche are perhaps a tad over-baked---the outsides are a bit crisper than the brioche I remember trying first. Nevertheless, I am pleased with my efforts.