Hi everyone! In France, for the Epiphany, they eat two different kind of pastries. The first one, mostly eaten in the North, is the King’s Cake or “Galette” that you’ve probably seen on my blog, made up of puff pastry dough. You can find the recipes here. The other one is eaten in the South and is called the King’s Brioche. This one is a very soft Brioche flavoured with citrus zests and orange blossom. To make it even better, I’ve decided to garnish it with apple compote and add some peanut praline and caramelized peanuts on top. This is a very easy and quick recipe to make, yet super tasty and greedy!
For 2 brioches of 400g:
Dough:
- 400g of flour
- 200g of butter
- 30g of sugar
- 160g of eggs (= 3 large eggs)
- 20g of fresh yeast
- 3 tbsp of orange blossom
- 3 tbsp of milk
- The zest of 1 lemon
- 9g of salt
Compote:
- 500g of apples (~3 medium-size apple)
- 25g of honey (or sugar)
- 30g of butter
- 1 vanilla sugar sachet
- 1 tbsp of orange blossom
Praline and caramelized peanuts:
- 150g of peanuts
- 100g of sugar
- 24g of water
Topping:
- 10g of almond halves
- 20g of caramelized peanuts
- Some raw peanuts
Syrup:
- 25g of honey (or sugar)
- 25g of water
- 1 tbsp of orange blossom
Egg wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 2g of full liquid cream
Let’s get started!
We’ll begin with the dough:
1. In a saucepan, heat a small amount of milk, without exceeding 40°C. Take 3 tbsp of this warm milk and pour it over the fresh yeast and stir. I had some frozen fresh yeast and it worked perfectly.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, the salt, the sugar, the lemon zests, and the yeast mixture.
3. Add 2 eggs and mix with the dough hook. When they’re incorporated, add the third egg.
4. Add the orange blossom and knead until it forms a ball.
5. Add little by little the softened butter and knead for 15 minutes at speed 2. You can take the butter out of the fridge 1h30-2h before, or you can heat it in the microwave or in the oven for a couple of seconds. Be careful, it mustn’t melt, just be soft.
6. After 15min, the butter must be completely incorporated, the dough is elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
7. Place the dough in a bowl and wrap it with cling film. Let it rise in a warm place for 1h30-2h. What I like to do, especially in winter time, is to preheat my oven to the minimum temperature, turn it off, and place the dough inside.
8. After the rising time, punch it down and cover with cling film. Refrigerate overnight.
For the apple compote:
1. Peel and cut your apples into small cubes. Place them in a large saucepan, and add the honey, the butter, and the orange blossom.
2. Cook over medium heat for about 20-25 minutes until they can be crushed easily. Stir regularly to avoid the bottom from sticking.
3. Mix the apples in a blender until you have a very smooth compote.
4. Refrigerate until use.
The praline:
1. Roast the peanuts 10-15min in a 150°C preheated oven.
2. In a saucepan, heat the water and sugar until it reaches 116°C.
3. Add the peanuts and mix. A thin layer of sugar will coat the peanuts, keep stirring until all the white sugar caramelizes. You can reduce the heat if it goes too fast.
4. Spread the caramelized peanuts on a baking sheet or a silicone mat and let them cool down.
5. Take 20g of the caramelized peanuts and keep them in an airtight container, we’ll use them to decorate the brioche. Blend the remaining peanuts in a food-processor until you get a smooth paste. It will take more or less time depending on the power of your food processor.
6. Place the praline in a jar and refrigerate until use.
The next day:
1. Take the dough out of the fridge and punch it down. It’ll be harder, it’s normal.
2. Divide it into 2 equal pieces, each one will give a brioche.
3. Form a ball and slightly flatten it.
4. With your floured thumb, create a hole in the middle. Gently expand it, using both hands, until the hole is ~13cm wide.
5. Cover with a towel and let it rise again in a warm place for 2h.
6. When the dough has risen enough, brush the top with the egg wash mixture and insert the bean (or an almond). With a scissor, create deep cuts in the shape of a triangle on the surface of the dough. The cuts must be deep enough, so they stay even after cooking. Add some almond halves.
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan-assisted) and cook the brioche for 15-20min. The top must have a nice golden color.
Near the end of the cooking time, prepare the syrup:
1. Bring to boil the honey (or sugar), the water and the orange blossom.
2. When the brioche is cooked, let it cool down a few minutes.
3. Flip the brioche and make 8-9 holes.
4. Place the apple compote in a pastry bag, and in each hole, pipe generously some apple compote.
5. Brush the top with some syrup and fill the cuts with peanut praline. Decorate with the caramelized peanuts and the raw peanuts.
Your beautiful and delicious King’s Brioche is ready! Enjoy!
Don’t forget to write an email to partage@justonemorecake.com to share your pictures of the recipe and your opinions! I will add them at the bottom of this article.
