Flour, Too's Cinnamon Cream Brioche

So although this isn't a beautiful picture, this is a beautiful pastry :).  Flour, Too, a great cookbook, came through for us again.  I have previously mentioned my love of pastry cream, and since this pastry uses that, I knew I would love this, and I did.  Owen and I gave this a perfect 10, and Noah and Aaron gave it a 9.  While high in calories, not surprisingly, this is so delicious and worth it.  Each pastry was 596 calories, and the recipe makes 8 pastries.  Here's what to do:

1/2 batch Joanne Chang's brioche dough
1 3/4 c pastry cream, or any recipe
3/4 c (or a little less) sour cream
1 1/4 c sugar
1 t cinnamon

Preheat the oven(s) to 350 and line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the cinnamon and sugar together.
Shape the brioche into 8 rounds, similar to mini pizzas, making sure the center is quite thin.
Spread the pastry cream into the center, then top with about 1 T sour cream, or a little more.  Top with the cinnamon sugar mixture, making sure to sprinkle the entire pastry with the mixture.  Bake the pastries for 25-30 minutes.  Let them cool and serve them warm.

Chorizo Breakfast Pizzas

So we found a recipe for breakfast pizzas in our Flour, Too cookbook, but we didn't want to make them the way the recipe said :).  Instead, we made them using Flour's brioche recipe, which can be found here, or more easily here.  Anyway, I used half of this batch and made 8 pizzas out of this.  Each pizza was 530 calories, approximately, and Aaron gave this a perfect 10, Noah and I gave this a 9, and Owen gave it an 8 because he doesn't like chorizo :).  Here's what we did:

1/2 batch of Vicki's breakfast burrito meat, minus the egg (chorizo and potatoes)
2 onions, sliced very thinly
2 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1/2 batch of brioche
1/4 c sour cream, divided (we used a little less)
2 oz grated Monterey Jack cheese

Toppings of choice, we used avocados and tomatoes

Follow the directions for the brioche, and after proofing it overnight, begin making the pizzas.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Melt the butter in a pan, and caramelize the onions for about 30 minutes, seasoning well.
Cook the chorizo and potatoes with the caramelized onions and the egg.
Cut the brioche into 8 segments, then shape them into circles with a rim, like little mini pizzas.  Cook for 10 minutes on parchment covered cookie sheets.  Remove the brioche from the oven, then place around 1 T of sour cream in the bottom (or less) of the brioche, then top with the chorizo mixture.  Top with grated cheese, and cook for about 20 minutes, keeping an eye on them so they don't over bake.  Serve hot.

Flour's Brioche au Chocolat

I love brioche, and I love chocolate, and Flour's recipes are always amazing, so it's hard to go wrong here.  Aaron, Owen and Noah all gave this a 9, and I gave them an 8 because I felt like they were a tiny bit dry, my fault because I cooked them a little too long.

My picture isn't great, but these are some delicious pastries, each one 450 calories.  

The brioche is the same as Flour's Sticky Sticky buns that I made before, and you can find the recipe here for the sticky buns, and the brioche dough I used.  I made the full batch this time, and I made one loaf of brioche bread, then made these with the other half.  

1/2 recipe brioche dough

1-2 c pastry cream

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1 egg beaten

Roll out the brioche dough into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface.  Spread the pastry cream all over the dough, then scatter the chocolate over the bottom half.  Fold the top half over the bottom, then cut into 10 (I only got 9) pastries.  Lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and allow to rise for two hours in a warm place.  After 2 hours, preheat the oven to 350, and brush the tops of the pastries with the egg.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the pastries are golden brown.  Serve after cooling for a few minutes.

Sticky Sticky Buns

We had a birthday celebration for my mother today, and she doesn't like cake, so my father put me in charge of making the "birthday cake," and after remembering, fondly, our mutual love of Cinnabon, I decided to make her some goody sticky buns.  In the Throwdown cookbook they are called Sticky Sticky Buns, and they are divine.  I had never made brioche before, and I am now a changed woman.  Brioche is what all sweet rolls should be made out of, don't even bother worrying about the calories.  These buns are delicious.  My dad said out of 10 they were a 15.  My mother, myself and Noah gave them a 10, and Owen and Aaron (who does NOT like any kind of roll like this) gave them a 9.  So in other words, these were awesome.  The brioche recipe I linked to is a double batch, so either cut it in half or double the goo and filling ingredients.  I cut these way smaller than the recipe called for, the said to make 8 sticky buns and I made 20, so yeah, a lot different, but my sticky buns were only 340 (only!) calories, while the original recipe for 8 sticky buns was around 900/roll.  I think I'll stick with the smaller rolls :).  I didn't mind the large amount of proofing time, it was worth it.  These are special occasion food for us, since we can't eat all of them, but if you want some, call me up and I'll make you some and save one or two for myself :).

Tomorrow we're having some pork, potatoes, rolls, and corn from my dad's garden (thanks Dad!), and some cookies for school next week.  The donuts will have to show up later this week, we aren't having them tonight.