Brioche Bread Ring with Honey Stung Cream Cheese

Today, let’s make brioche (again).

To some of you who frequent the blog, it is easy to realize that this site has quite a number of recipes using brioche dough. And why not? After a long search for a perfect brioche recipe, I have finally found the one and I have been sticking to it ever since.

So now, we have a new recipe variation. Behold the Brioche Bread Ring.

This beautiful assembly of pastry is filled with honey-stung cream cheese, which is simply a blend of honey and cream cheese.

This filling complements the buttery brioche well because it adds elements of creaminess and a little bit of sweetness to the pastry.

As a finishing touch, the bread is drizzled with a sweet cream glaze and adorned with tender-crisp almond slices. In short, this brioche bread is simply amazing.

How to Make Brioche Bread Ring

Besides the fact that it is downright delicious, this pastry is so stunning with it’s elegant ring assembly. But don’t let that intimidate you.  It looks so intricate, yes. It looks so artistic, yes. But this brioche bread ring is not as complicated as it may seem and you can execute this well as long as you take your time and let go of any perfection.

So with that said, I would say that this recipe involves two major processes:

• The making of the brioche, and
• The assembly of the brioche bread ring

Make the Brioche

The Sponge is a mixture of yeast, milk and flour and egg that you mix and let sit for 45 minutes to prove the yeast. Mix together in a bowl 1 cup of flour, an egg, yeast and warm milk.

Stir until incorporated. Then sprinkle one more cup of flour over the mixture without stirring. After 45 minutes, cracks will develop on the flour surface. It is a sign of your activated yeast. 

The Dough. Add the sugar, salt, eggs and 1 cup of flour to the bowl with the yeast mixture. Using a dough hook, run the heavy-duty mixer on low speed for about a minute.

Add the remaining half cup of flour and run the mixer at medium speed. Continue to beat, scraping the bowl as needed, for about 15-20 minutes.

You will know when the dough is ready if it is coming together in the center of the bowl. You should see the dough slapping the sides of the bowl with slapping sounds.

Add the Butter. Now add room temperature butter bit by bit. but not warm or oily. When you add the butter, the dough will fall apart again for a moment.

Continue to beat until you hear the slapping sounds again. This should take about 5 minutes or so. The dough is sticky but shiny at this point.

The Rise and the Long Chill. Place the ball of dough into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature until the size is doubled, about 2 hours.

Then, gently deflate the dough in the bowl, cover it with a plastic film and chill it in the fridge for at least 6  hours.

Note: To make the brioche bread ring, we are only going to need 1/2 of the brioche dough. The other half can be frozen for up to three weeks. Just wrap it in plastic, then wrap it again in foil. Or you can also make another bread ring with a different filling as I did. I used Nutella.

 

 

 Assembly of the Brioche Bread Ring

Flour a work surface and roll your brioche dough into a rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick. Trim the edges of the rectangle so that they are neat and straight.

Spread the honey cream cheese on the surface of the rectangle.

Starting on the long side, roll the rectangle into a tight log. Trim the edges so they are straight. Press and squeeze the log to make it thinner and longer so it is easier to shape it into a circle.

Now form a circle from the log by connecting the two ends. Pinch the ends together to seal them close. Important: Transfer this circle into a large baking pan that is lined with parchment paper. You see below, I forgot to transfer the circle to a baking pan before cutting it into sections. I nearly had a heart attack transferring it afterward because the flaps are so wobbly.

It transferred fine but save yourself from the hassle. 

Using a sharp knife, cut one-inch sections around the outer edge of the circle but leave about half an inch of dough uncut on the inner edge (see photo below).

Fan out each cut section by twisting it it to the right. The left cut end of each section should be somehow facing up. Let pastry rise for 2 hours, covered loosely with plastic wrap.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush the surface of the dough with the egg wash and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the brioche is light brown. Let pastry cool (or be warm) and drizzle the glaze, then sprinkle almond slices on top.