Masterful Brioche Benefits From Time & Patience

Long weekends lend themselves to projects like classic French brioche. This iteration from respected food writer Ginette Mathiot is a tried-and-tested recipe.

Making brioche at home is a process that stretches over a long period of time, but no step is complicated. It just needs a little effort to knead and some patience. The smell wafting out of the oven when it is baked— ideally in time for breakfast—is heavenly. Every region of France can boast one or several types of brioche, from the pompe marseillaise to the northern cramique, from the pastis des Landes near Bordeaux to the Alsatian Kugelhopf. The following version is the classic brioche à tête you will find at the bakery next to the croissants and pains au chocolat, with a plump base supporting a smaller round “head” of dough.

Recipe from Classic French Recipes by Ginette Mathiot, $80, published by Phaidon.

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