Couronne Bordelaise

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Couronne, Oil, Shaping, sourdough, Technique, water, yeast

The Couronne Bordelaise is a beautiful bread form that has the appearance of having been artfully scored, whereas it is all actually done by shaping. This suits me perfectly as my scoring skills are still, to say the least, rudimentary.

Couronne means crown or wreath in French, and at its best this loaf has a spectacular crest of dough at its centre which really does look like a crown or diadem, surrounded by six or eight rounded buns.

However I have found this effect surprisingly difficult to achieve.

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Delightful…! Preposterous…! Brioche Feuilletée

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Bertinet, brioche, Feuilletee, Hamelman, Hazelnut, Pistachio

When I first got my iPad, I became addicted for a while to a game called Cruel Jewels. It was very amusing the way a kind of posh butler would comment with increasing excitement on how well you were doing. A good move might earn a “Delightful!”, a better one a more enthusiastic “Splendid!”, but if you had done particularly well he would work himself up to an almost hysterical “Absurd! Preposterous!! INCONCEIVABLE!!!”

I fear that some people might view this Brioche Feuilletée recipe in the same light. For it takes a dough that is already very rich, packed as it is with eggs and butter, and adds yet more butter in the form of a croissant-style lamination. The dough is then wrapped around a rich nutty filling, and finally the loaf is glazed with apricot jam, drizzled with icing and sprinkled with more nuts.

I Also Made… Classic French Madeleines

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Madeleine, Vanilla

These madeleines, flavoured with vanilla, can be made using the same method as the Rose Madeleines that I posted about earlier today.

Rose Madeleines

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Madeleine, Nigella Lawson, Rose, Rosewater, Tea Time Treats

I have always loved Madeleines, and once, in a fit of excitement, I bought myself a tray to make them in. I’m embarrassed to admit that that may have been as much as fifteen years ago, and in all that time the tray sat unused in the cupboard, silently reproaching me every time I moved it out of the way to find a tin for a less challenging recipe (challenging in my eyes that is).