We love these whenever we visit Bayona in NOLA, and, lucky me, a friend had the cookbook and shared the recipe with me!
I did misread my notes and accidently added six eggs to the dough instead of the called for five but, I did some research and, no harm, no foul! The extra egg just brought the brioche into challah-adjacent territory (not at all a bad thing).
I will note, this recipe is pretty simple, but time consuming.
Plan for two days (or one very long one).
The thing is, most of that time is allowing the dough to rise; one hour to start, then overnight in the fridge, and then a final hour in the muffin tins. Remember, too, that you are the boss of that dough.
Cannot get to it after it has been rising for the called for hour (or six in the fridge)? No worries! The dough will be there waiting for your attention when you are ready to give it.
INGREDIENTS
Brioche:
•2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast
•2 tbsp warm (110º) water
•1 tsp plus 2 tbsp sugar
•1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
•5 eggs
•1/4 cup milk
•3-1/2 cups flour
•1 tsp salt
•1/2 lb cold butter
Glaze:
•1 beaten egg
Peel a sweet potato and cut into chunks.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, stir in one tablespoon of salt and the sweet potatoes.
Boil for 20 minutes, until tender, then drain and set aside to cool.
Add the sweet potato to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat for about on minute, until smooth.
Measure out one cup of the sweet potato mash for the brioche.
Note: if you like, freeze any remaining sweet potato in one cup batches; then you will have saved a step the next time you make this recipe.
Place the yeast and one teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl or beaker.
Stir in the warm water, then set aside to rest for ten minutes or so, until the yeast is nice and foamy.
Return the cup of sweet potato to the mixing bowl along with the eggs and the foamy yeast mixture.
Beat for one minute.
Add the flour, the other two tablespoons of sugar, and the teaspoon of salt.
Knead for five minutes, until you have a smooth but really sticky dough.
Cut the cold butter into small pieces and then, about a third at a time, beat into the dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise at room temperature for about and hour or so – until the dough has doubled in size.
Cannot get back to the dough in 60 minutes? No worries! Again, you are the boss! The dough will be more than fine until you can get back to it.
When you do get back to the dough, peel back the cover, close your hands into fists, and punch the dough down, gently, to release any air pockets and reduce the volume of the dough.
Recover the bowl and stash the dough in the fridge for at least six hours or overnight.
Yeh. I told you it was a kinda fussy recipe, but, brioche will not be rushed.
Six hours later, the next day, whatever, remove the dough from the fridge and heat your oven to 400º.
Apply cooking spray to two, twelve space muffin tins.
Lightly punch the dough down once more, then, ssing two teaspoons, scoop the dough into each prepared place. You will have plenty for 24 brioche.
Loosely cover the pans with a clean kitchen towel, then set aside to rise until the dough has doubled – another hour or so.
When ready to bake, lightly whip the egg fro the glaze, then brush over the surface of your brioche and prick the surface with a toothpick in a couple of places.
Pop it into the hot oven for ten minutes, then reduce the temperature to 325º and bake for another ten minutes for individual rolls, until golden brown.
Two dozen pretty terrific little brioche to enjoy with that Maple Syrup Butter and share with friends and family.
Or, I guess you could freeze the excess, and have a treat whenever you like.