Milly and Kelly Made It - Episode 1

My cousin Kelly is in Auckland for a horse race this weekend. We spent Saturday morning shopping for fabric at All Things Patchwork in Waimauku Village - possibly the coolest patchwork fabric shop I have visited recently in New Zealand. I was shopping for some Echino for my Monday Modern Bee Block. Saturday afternoon/evening was spent at the races.

We spent this morning making brioche from the Little and Friday recipe book. I don't own a flash kitchen mixer with a dough hook, so we kneaded for 10 minutes.

We then had to let the dough prove. It probably took about 30 minutes on a warm day to double in size. (We got distracted by fabric at the point, so time passed quite quickly.)

After cutting out 8cm rounds, the dough had to re-prove for another 10 minutes. The ones we left longer at this stage were lighter.

We cooked them in about 2cm of oil - we used rice bran because that's what was in the pantry - for 2 minutes on each side. This stage was the more experimental. The first couple were overcooked on the outside and a bit doughy still on the inside. We just turned the oil down and from then on they were pretty perfect.

The brioche doughnuts are filled with Creme Diplomat - a blend of custard and whipped cream - and raspberry jam.

We think they are better than bought ones. They have a great texture and a good flavour. We will definitely use this recipe again, perhaps next time for savoury brioche.