The One Recipe I’ll Pass Down: Vanilla Bean Brioche

When I was the pastry chef at Hawthorne Lane, one of my chefs from school, Greg Tompkins, came in for dinner. When I came to the table at the end of the meal to say hello, he very modestly handed me a spiral bound notebook of all his recipes to have. So generous! I’ve been making and evolving his brioche recipe ever since.

Sometimes brioche can be a big disappointment, all that butter and yet it eats dry and lifeless. This recipe is soft and delicious with a nice punch of salt. I added vanilla to the original recipe. I love the fragrance up against all that butter and yeast. The original called for bread flour. One day, having run out of bread flour, I substituted in all purpose: even better! I love when that happens.

One day, an assistant mistakenly doubled the butter: delicious! I use that variation for small “profiterole” type applications. I’ve riffed rye, whole wheat and chocolate versions. One solid recipe like this can create a whole menu of pastries: pain perdu, bread pudding, twice baked brioche, Bee Sting cake, Tart Tropezienne, so many applications for both plated desserts and bakery style pastries. The fun of teaching is we get to explore them all.

VANILLA BEAN BRIOCHE

This dough recipe is a wonderful starting point for a number of applications. Double the butter and turn it into profiteroles, or make it as is for a beautifully fragrant and rich brioche. (The shaping, proofing, and bake will vary for each application.)

Ingredients:

• ½ oz instant yeast
• 20 oz milk
• 2 eggs
• 22 oz all purpose flour
• 70 oz all purpose flour
• 10 oz sugar
• 3 oz salt
• 22 eggs
• 4 vanilla beans
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 48 oz butter, softened

Preparation:

1. Combine yeast, milk, 2 eggs and first measure of flour. Paddle until completely mixed.

2. Mix together second measure of flour, sugar and salt. Pour over the first mixture and let sit until cracks form.

3. Once cracks form, add the 22 eggs, seeds scraped from the vanilla beans, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine on low speed. Turn mixer up to speed 2 and mix until a strong dough develops, about 8 minutes.

4. Add butter on low speed and mix until well incorporated. Proof overnight, refrigerated.

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Nicole Plue is the Director of Pastry Arts at San Francisco Cooking School. A James Beard Award winning pastry chef, Nicole has worked in some of the country’s finest restaurants. She now teaches our pastry program, passing along her arsenal of recipes and techniques for her students to carry with them wherever they may go.

Learn more about our Professional Culinary and Pastry Programs
at SF Cooking School.

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