Organic Cotswold Brie Brioche

These Brioche Parisienne buns make for an interesting cheese course!

For my tasting menus I used to try and introduce people to all the amazing ingredients you can find in the Cotswolds. Once, in between dropping off frozen meals around Stow-on-the-Wold I stopped by Kirkham Farm near Upper Slaughter where they make Simon Weaver's range of cheeses. One of the workers stopped production to serve me. Interesting to see how it's made, and the volumes!

That's the great thing about the Cotswolds - you can pick ingredients up straight from the farm - always interesting to hear production stories first hand.

Here they are in action!

Brie Brioche Recipe 
You can make these plain, without the cheese. Or change the brie for chocolate chips or date & walnut. You can use fresh yeast, but I found Doves Farm instant dried yeast very easy to use and easy to keep on hand.
I got the brioche tins from a charity shop back in 2006 - charity shops are great places to find kitchen equipment bargains.
The recipe I use is from the Bread book by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno which I have modified slightly to make in my trusty Kenwood Mixer rather than making by hand. I started off making bread by hand, but then I was making so much I couldn't keep up and turned to the mixing machine for help.

Stuff
375g Strong bread flour - try Shipton Mill
2 1/2 tsp Dried yeast
2 tbsp Caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
5 eggs, beaten up
175g Unsalted butter, softened + extra to brush the brioche tins
Eggwash - either whole egg and a drop of water, or just the egg yolk with a dash of water
Organic Cotswold Brie, cut into pieces - judge the size by the size of the brioche tins

Things

1. If you're using a mixing machine with dough hook, add the flour to the bowl with the dried yeast , sugar and salt. Add the beaten eggs and mix on the slowest setting for 10 minutes to knead till the dough is soft and elastic.
2. Cover with a tea towel and leave for 1 - 1 1/2 hours till risen and doubled in size. Knock back, then leave for 10 minutes. 
3. Add the softened butter and mix in on slow speed. Once the butter is incorporated keep going on slow speed for 5 minutes for a second kneading, then rest for another 5 minutes. 
4. Grease 10 brioche tins (8cm diameter, 5cm deep) with the extra softened butter. 
5. Divide the dough in to 10 pieces with a pastry scraper. We're making these into cottage style buns, so then cut each of those 10 pieces into 2 so you have one large piece for the base and 1 small piece for the top - roughly 3/4 and 1/4. 
6. Roll the brioche base in your hands till round and smooth. Place in the greased brioche tin.
7. Place a piece of brie on top as the picture above and press down slightly so it stays in position. 
8. Roll the smaller brioche dough ball and sit it on top of the brie. Press down slightly so it sticks to the base. Make sure the piece of brie is covered by dough. 
9. Allow to prove for 30 minutes-ish. This depends on the heat of room the dough is in - if it's cold it takes longer, if it's a hot summer's day it will be faster. They should double in size.
10. Brush the tops with egg glaze. Place on a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 oC until glossy and golden. Turn out and leave on a wire rack.

Note:  Oven temperature may vary depending on your oven. The original recipe says 220 oC. I found 200 oC worked well in my Blue Seal Turbofan oven.

For the brie brioche buns above I served them with an extra slice of brie so you've got the contrast to the baked one in the brioche. Then garnished with caramelised orange, pickled fig, pickled cherry, walnut and dried barberries (from the Turkish shop).