At first glance, the bread in this photo looks pretty normal, perhaps even good. Even this next photo could have you fooled with its beautiful spongy interior!
But then you realize this is brioche and not ciabatta- or some bread equally short in height, and it starts to look funny. Really funny. Laughably funny. Like I pulled this out of my oven and began giggling. Ok maybe I muttered what the hell too, but still. It looks like I baked just the top of a brioche loaf! Actually that’s exactly what happened- because this bread has the exact texture and flavor of brioche, it’s just well, half the height.
From my research, I’m guessing this happened because I halved the recipe, and naturally, halved the yeast too. But apparently you’re not supposed to do that (especially with brioche, since it’s such a heavy dough). Who knew? Well, now I do. But seriously, Ina, could it have killed you to write this in the recipe? Perhaps not everyone wants to make 2 loaves.
Ok I’m done with my rant, no more Ina rage. I’m trudging forward, and going to repurpose this bread this weekend. It will become either french toast or bread pudding, I have yet to decide. To help make my decision, if you have interesting recipes for either (or other ideas as to what I could do with this semi-brioche loaf), please send them my way!
Pingback: Creme Brulee French Toast « Channeling Contessa