It is a perfect holiday morning. I’m taking a break from the preparations for today’s Día de Reyes (Epiphany) family gathering with one of these little bubble top brioche rolls and a cup of coffee. The king cake dough rises in the oven, the dishwasher is running, and I still have over four hours before everybody gets here.
I made a loaf of brioche almost a year ago. While it turned out delicious, I used a larger loaf pan and it didn’t rise as prettily as I would have liked. The process seemed too long at the time as well. I’ll chalk this one up to experience – I loved working through Dorie’s recipe and the rising/slapping intervals did not seem unreasonable. My dough rested almost 24 hours in the refrigerator, which made rolling the little dough balls so much easier. As for the taste, I loved these. They were buttery, soft, and with a schmear of apricot preserves, just heavenly. Another plus: they freeze well and reheat beautifully.
To date, I do not have a regular muffin pan (let alone brioche molds), so I pulled out again the mini-bundt one. I love how the ridged base looks!
We had a wonderful Christmas with my family and spent the week leading up to New Year’s Eve with the in-laws in Miami. While we were there I finally played catch up with two other Around My French Table recipes: the 20-minute duck breasts and cauliflower gratin. I made a mini-gratin to serve on the side of the pork cutlets with collard greens, but decided to do another one for my in-laws. For some reason, I forgot to add the flour (head shakes), so instead of the gratin puffing up, it came out as a cauliflower tortilla. I was so upset about it! The duck, however, made up for the botched-up side dish. It was very easy to pull off and super tasty!
It looks like I’m only behind now with the crème brûlée! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that 2012 brings you health, happiness, and great times in the kitchen. Here’s to all the great Around My French Table recipes to be cooked and shared in the new year!
Check out how the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie crowd made their bubble top brioche here.
I love how they came out from the mini bundt pan. Great idea! Good luck with your epiphany gathering!
Happy New Year! Sounds like your holidays were very tasty and your little mini bundt rolls look just perfect.
I actually made a loaf of brioche instead of muffins and I too was surprised that it didn’t rise up as much as I would have liked. Oh well, I’m relatively new to bread making, may be that I just don’t know what to look out for.
They look so cute with their ridged bottoms! Looks great! I have still failed to get my hands on a duck breast around where I live, so I’m jealous of everyone who had such a great experience with that duck dish. I’m going to pounce if I ever see duck breast in the store.
I had to buy the whole duck! I didn’t have time to cook the legs into confit, but my MIL did.
I love the ridged base of your brioches beside the bubble top 🙂 lovely and you have done a great job on them . I shall make these again for our breakfast 🙂 yummy
Everything looks wonderful, your brioches, duck and cauliflower gratin!
And a happy New Year to you!
I have one small question I would like to subscribe by email to your blog but can’t figure out which one is the link???thanks!
Hi Patty! I added the little widget to the sidebar (on top of the social media icons).
The molds you used give such a great pattern on the brioche. And your duck and gratin looks great. You must have been eaten very well these past week.
You know, a cauliflower tortilla actually sounds kind of good 🙂
Everything looks amazing and love the bundt molds on the brioche…
You are way ahead of me if you’re only one behind! Love the ridged bottoms of your rolls. I’m craving brioche molds now but trying to fight it:)
Well… maybe more than one! It felt good to catch up, though. 😉
Your mini-bundt pan is so versatile. If you didn’t say, I would have thought you used the traditional fluted brioche pans. I LOVE the duck breast recipe. I made it tonight for the 3rd time. It’s turning into a weeknight favorite. I wish you a very happy new year, Adriana. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you in 2011 and look forward to following your posts in 2012.
I like the mini-bundt pan idea–these rolls seem very flexible about what kind of pan they’re baked in. I really like the idea of the cauliflower gratin with duck.
Adriana, Love the way your brioche came out! That mini bundt pan worked really well! Very pretty brioche. I really loved this recipe, so buttery and delicious! Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Using mini bundt molds is such a great idea! Now I have another excuse to go out and buy one! And nothing can’t be improved by slathering it with apricot jam!
Beautifully done, Adriana!
Ugh. I hate when i forget ingredients. Looks like the duck was done perfectly. And I like the ridges the bundt pans put in the rolls. Love your table cloths! I’m a fan of vintage Christmas ones myself.
They are only vintage looking! The wreath ones are kitchen towels from Crate and Barrel and the other one is from Sur La Table. They should be on sale right now!
Your brioche rolls turned out so beautiful amd golden, and I adore the shape. Apricot preserves would have been nice on these.
I’m so glad I saw these – great idea using your mini-bundt pan. I’m going to do that with the 2nd batch I bake today!
That duck breast was one of my favorites! Sometimes I get so caught up up in making the current recipe that I forget to go back and re-make the ones I really liked. The mini pans look like the perfect substitution for the rolls!
Wow – a true Dorie-fest over the holidays 🙂 And I wondered where your posts were going in my Reader! Fully subscribed to the new RSS feed now – sorry for not realising before!
Love the new layout! Looks beautiful, as does your brioche. Gealous about the king cake! Sounds wonderful too. Happy New Year!
I would love to find a cute bundt pan like yours! I think the pan helped add a special touch to your rolls … very nice work!
They look great! I will have to try freezing some the next time I make this
Love your brioche pan! Your muffins turned out great!
I’m so glad to hear that the brioche freeze well (I have a bunch left in my freezer)! I love your bundt pan – very cute!
Don’t you love that 20 minute duck breast? I’m completely addicted to it. I think the cauliflower tortilla sounds interesting….and your brioche are gorgeous!
How did I miss this post on Friday?! The mini-bundt pan gave the brioche such cute ridges. It sounds you had a wonderful holiday! I’m glad you were able to make the gratin and the duck. They were such great dishes and perfect to share with everyone.
I was wondering how you got that fluted bottom to your lovely brioche 🙂 Genius – they look gorgeous and I know how amazing those little things tasted. Nana and I both loved them. So glad to see you got a chance to try the other recipes too – we did the duck from Christmas as well. And thanks for letting us know about freezing and baking the brioche. I think if I am able to do the recipe this way I have a much better way of enjoying these more often. Great job !
I just adore those buns, I’ve made them a couple of times now. I love the book too, I’ve tried so many good things from it. Hope you had a Happy New Years.
-Gina-
The name is witty and the picture is mouthwatering. Check, check! Well done and can’t wait to test this recipe out!
me and yeast are not friends! lol! i’ve never had wide success baking with yeast. for now, i will just enjoy your beautiful brioche pictures. one day i will have the guts (and glory) to bake a yeast product 🙂