How to Make Brioche, Sticky Cinnamon Rolls and Philippine Style Ensaimada

Okay. I must admit that I am kind of running out of ideas to write. Not that my head is out of any recipes but usually, the best ones come out out of the blue mixed with a little traditionalism and creativity. Now, what do I mean by this?

Brioche...now an Ensaimada. Crosswise.

In recent months, one has seen the popularity of the "Cronut" which is the donut with the flakiness of a croissant - I have not yet tried this reputably miraculous morsel by Domenique Ansel whose reputation for desserts have skyrocketed since its introduction - but essentially this is the marriage of two traditional characteristics familiar to the dessert and sweet palate. Promoting it as a breakfast item was genius. Of course, the final proof is in the pudding and still, I have not yet tried the Cronut, but then, I am not willing to stand outside in the middle of the cold just so I can shell out ten dollars to get two pieces maximum of this reputable pastry. I heard that his next idea would be a chocolate chip cookie fashioned to a cup (baking it using a mold that fashions the cup like cookie) serving it with milk inside -- so much like a shot of milk with the cookie. Now, I don't think its that creative but then, as Mr. Ansel already made quite a reputation in the world of desserts and pasties, I am sure that this would already be a hit if not at least his popularity would make its sales skyrocket in the first few weeks or months of its introduction. 

The Cronut, a creation that's an instant hit in
the culinary circles of NYC and the whole world!

Falling in line for the Cronut.

But the point is this, sometimes the best things that come out of the food world are reimaginations of essentially old ideas. Also, another characteristic of successful food concoctions that make it popular among foodies is guided by the dictum, "if you are going to make something -- make it well." This explains why chicharron may be common out there - nothing compares to the quality and therefore popularity of Baliwag. Get the idea?

So, therefore, we come back to technique. Recipes are common and therefore thousands upon thousands of recipes that compete as the "right way" of cooking dishes whether that is adobo, afritada, menudo, relleno, pastel or even vanilla cakes, chocolate cakes, red velvet cakes etc. But if one really gets into it, the proportion of ingredients is just one thing but the procedure of bringing out the textures and tastes into the mixture of these components is another. The mastery of technique is what makes a gourmand.

Case in point - the brioche. Brioche is a high class of French bread. Marie Antoinette lost her head with it when she exclaimed, "Let them eat cake!" which is actually a misquotation because the original French was "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!" Note - it was brioche and NOT cake. Anyway, even so, actually there was no record that she ever said the phrase. To my Filipino readers and poor peasants out there who ever thought that they haven't eaten brioche, think again. Actually, this is bread that is, unlike the ordinary French bread or baguette which is made with just flour, water oil and yeast, fortified with butter, milk, eggs and sugar. Thus, it is sweeter, richer, more nutritious and indulgent. Question is, have we ever had brioche before? Yes! Philippine style Ensimada (or Ensaymada) is actually brioche. Now - I qualified that - Philippine Style Ensaimada and not the Spanish Majorcan Ensaimada which does not have butter rather pork lard. Secondly, no Aling Maria -- there is no cheese in the original Spanish type Ensaimada.

The Brioche.  Eggy, sweet, tasty, buttery and soft Brioche.
Decadent? See next picture.

This lady should have been careful with her words.
She apparently lost her head saying,
"Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!"

But brioche served as slices from a loaf is not really as moist and melting as what the current thoughts we may have of the ensaimada. I recently had brioche in a French restaurant in NYC (Bouley) and was thinking it would be soft and moist but what I got instead reminded me of the old style Philippine Ensaimada which was sold with margarine and sugar being peddled in the streets of Manila by a pastry hawker with his products kept in two large cans used to contain lard balanced at the back of his bicycle. Remember those? And actually, as much as current Philippine Ensaimada has been reinvented as "Super Melt" or "Super Moist", the original texture of this bread is somewhat more breadier rather than a moist, soft, puffy and cottonlike that we have come to know today.

The Philippine Ensaimada is actually a type of
goodie that one can make with Brioche.

Because brioche is a very rich type of bread with its sweetness and buttery flavor, it can be transformed further into other goodies, ensaimada included. One of these is the ever-favorite "Sticky Buns" aka Cinnamon Buns.

In this recipe, I will show how to make the basic brioche bread. Once that is done, it can me made into Philippine Ensaimadas and Cinnamon Buns.

Brioche

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 16oz lukewarm water (equivalent to the amount of a can of evaporated milk
• 16oz evaporated milk (therefore, as above, equal to one can)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup softened butter or margarine
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 or 2 teaspoons salt
• 7-1/2 to 8 cups all purpose flour (high gluten is best or bread flour)

Procedure

1. Dissolve sugar in the lukewarm water in a mixing bowl. Add yeast and stir until well mixed leaving it for about five minutes. This will "wake up" the yeasts and activate it with the sugar which is the substrate for fermentation and gas production.
2. With the yeasts activated, add the eggs, evaporated milk, salt and butter. Using a paddle or whisk, slowly stir the liquid ingredients until homogenous for about five to ten minutes. Never mind that the butter/margarine does not melt but it is best that it breaks up to mix with the liquids.
3. In this mixture add first two cups of flour and mix well using the low speed of your mixer. A batter will form in which the next two cups of flour are slowly added to incorporate well as mixer continues its mixing action. The batter would become stiffer and it is this point that the whisk or paddles may be changed to the dough hook.
4. Still at low mixing speed, add the remaining cups of flour slowly but continuously to make a resilient dough. Do not forget to use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl so that the flour and dough that sticks on the bowl would be mixed in the dough as well. As the dough gets stiffer, it would "climb" the dough hook and sometimes reach the mixer itself. If this happens, just turn the mixer off to remove the dough and then turn it on again to continuously use the dough hook at knead the dough as it becomes more resilient to touch. The dough is ready when it is dry and non-sticky to the touch of the fingers with light pressure.
5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with wet towel or cling wrap to prevent dryness as the bowl is placed in a warm place such as the microwave oven or a warm oven (Tip: preheat the oven to about 200F then turn it off). Leave the dough alone to rise until double in bulk (about an hour or so).
6. Once double in bulk, "punch" down to release gases and cover once more to leave to rise until again double in bulk (second rising).
7. After the second rising, it is ready to be divided into four loaves leaving them in bread loaf pans and let rise for until double in bulk then bake in a preheated oven of 400F for about twenty minutes.

The Cinnamon Roll - yet again, another creation
that could be made with the Brioche.

Sweet Cinnamon Buns

• 1 recipe of brioche as above after the second rising
• LOADS of butter
• LOADS of powdered cinnamon
• LOADS of brown sugar
• 4 cups chopped nuts

Procedure

1. Fashioning the dough into a long loaf, divide into two.
2. Using a half of the dough at a time, flatten each piece using a rolling pin with the stretching motion of the hand and fingers in order to "spread" the dough as wide as possible.
3. Spread liberally some butter on the dough. Sprinkle evenly 2 cups of nuts then brown sugar and cinnamon powder. Do not skimp on the cinnamon.
4. Roll as in jelly roll, fashion the roll to a uniform diameter and divide into twelve equal parts. You can assure the equality of the sizes by first dividing the roll loaf in the middle then each half is again divided into half to make four cuts. Each one-fourth cut is divided further into three.
5. The first half would make 12 rolls. Each roll is then placed on the pan lying on its side.
6. Do the same procedure with the other half of the brioche dough.
7. Preheat the oven to 400F and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve warm with sugar & butter glaze.

Sugar and Butter Glaze

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup powdered confectioner's sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk

Under low heat in a saucepan, melt butter gently. Add to this sifted powdered confectioner's sugar and stir using a wire whisk while adding milk by the spoonful's. One may choose to add more milk to make the sauce more liquid. Remove from heat and cool for a while to desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle on top of cinnamon buns that are inverted on a serving tray.

This is my Ensaimada in the baking tray.

Ensaimada with the butter and sugar topping.

Philippine Style Ensaimada

• 1 recipe of brioche as above after the second rising
• 16 slices of cheese: may use whatever cheese variety though sharper cheeses are preferred
• LOADS of butter
• LOADS of sugar

1. Dividing the dough to sixteen equal pieces using the half division method, flatten a piece of the dough and spread some butter taking care not to butter the edges. To this, sprinkle sugar and apply a slice of cheese. Roll like a jelly to resemble a cigar. Twist and roll this cigar like dough with fillings into a whole bun. And place in a baking pan. Do this for the next remaining 15 pieces.
2. Let the prepared rolls rise until fluffy (double in bulk) and bake in a 400F oven until golden brown.
3. Remove from the oven and cool. Once at room temperature, spread some butter on top and sprinkle some more sugar and top with grated cheese. Variations include adding slices of ham or salted duck eggs on top.

   

   My sister, Elieza and I enjoying the
   newly made ensaimada.