Thick Vanilla Pastry Cream For Brioche Bretzels Recipes

Steps:

• Place the half-and-half, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the salt in a large saucepan over medium heat. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the milk and then drop in the pod. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, and let the vanilla infuse into the milk while you work with the eggs.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Whisking some of the sugar into the eggs helps prevent lumps later when you whisk in the hot cream. Whisk in the cornstarch until smoothly incorporated.
• Remove the vanilla bean, rinse, dry, and reserve for another use. While whisking vigorously, pour the hot milk into the eggs a little at a time. Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, whisking all the while and making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan. Boil until the pastry cream thickens, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. If the cream looks lumpy, pass it through a sieve into a bowl. Otherwise, whisk in the butter and vanilla extract, if using, and then transfer the pastry cream to a bowl to cool for about 5 minutes. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool to room temperature.

Steps:

• 1) In a stand mixer or bread machine (programmed for dough), mix together all of the dough ingredients to form a smooth, shiny dough. Don't worry; what starts out as a sticky mess becomes beautifully satiny as it kneads. This dough takes longer than most to develop, so be prepared to let the dough knead for up to 15 to 20 minutes in a stand mixer. Also, we don't recommend trying to knead it by hand. If you're using a bread machine, let it complete its kneading cycle, then continue as directed below. 2) Form the dough into a ball (it'll be very soft), place it in a greased bowl, cover the bowl, and it let rise for 1 hour. 3) Refrigerate the dough for several hours, or overnight. This will slow the fermentation and chill the butter, making the dough easier to shape. 4) While the dough is chilling, prepare the pastry cream. 5) In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together 2 1/2 cups of the milk, the sugar, and the salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. 6) Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch, flour, and egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup milk. 7) Whisk about 1/3 cup of the hot milk mixture with the egg yolks. This keeps the yolks from turning to scrambled eggs when you add them to the simmering milk. 8) Pour the egg/milk mixture back into the remaining simmering milk. Doing this through a strainer will help prevent lumps later. 9) Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the mixture thickens. To avoid lumps, it's important to stir this constantly, and to run a spatula along the bottom of the pan to make sure nothing's sticking. Don't worry, the cream won't take long to thicken. 10) Remove the pastry cream from the heat and pour it through a sieve to remove any lumps. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract. 11) Transfer the pastry cream to a storage bowl, and top with a buttered piece of parchment or plastic wrap. This will prevent a skin from forming. 12) Refrigerate the cream until you're ready to use it. 13) To shape and bake the brioche: Remove the brioche dough from the refrigerator, and divide it into 16 pieces. 14) Shape each piece into a round ball. Space the balls on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" between them; they'll expand quite a bit. 15) Cover the brioche, and let them rise for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until they're very puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F. 16) Brush each brioche with some of the egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse white sparkling sugar or Swedish pearl sugar. 17) Place the pan on a lower-middle rack in the oven, and bake the brioche for 25 to 30 minutes, tenting them with aluminum foil after 15 minutes if they appear to be browning too quickly. The finished brioche will register at least 190°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center. 18) Remove the brioche from the oven, and cool on a rack. 19) Finish the pastry cream by whipping the 1/2 cup heavy cream to soft peaks, and folding it into the refrigerated pastry cream. 20) Slit each brioche around the circumference, making a top and bottom. Spoon a heaping 1/4 cup filling onto the bottom, and lay the top over the filling. 21) Serve within an hour or so. Brioche can be filled and refrigerated for several hours, covered. Allow them to warm a bit before serving. Yield: 16 filled brioche.

Steps:

• Pour the lukewarm milk into a small bowl. Add the yeast and the 1/4 cup of flour and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until the mixture gets puffy and active, at least 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, the sugar, and the salt. Add the eggs and the room-temperature milk to the bowl and knead on low speed until the dough is a smooth mass (it may not form around the dough hook), 5 to 8 minutes.
• While the dough is kneading, cut the butter into about 12 pieces. With the machine running on low, gradually add the butter, a few pieces at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Continue kneading on low for about 8 minutes. The dough may still not form around the dough hook. Scrape the dough off the dough hook and add the yeast mixture. Knead on low speed until the dough feels smooth and elastic, yet still fluffy and soft, about another 10 minutes. It will remain sticky.
• On a lightly floured work surface, shape the dough into a ball, dust a large bowl lightly with flour, and add the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. When ready, the dough will not spring back when poked gently with a finger.
• Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut the dough into 12 evenly sized pieces (about 2 1/2 ounces each). Under cupped palms with stiff fingers, roll the pieces into tight balls. They should stick a little bit to the counter to create tension, so use very little to no flour on the countertop. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for about 15 minutes.
• To shape the bretzels, work sequentially, completing each step with all the dough. This allows the dough to rest and makes it easier to work. As you work, if the dough seems to fight you and doesn't stretch out, just let it rest for a few minutes and then continue. Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll each ball into a log about 6 inches long. Then roll each of these into a long, thin rope about 30 inches long, tapering the ends to points, and immediately shape it and arrange it on the prepared baking sheet.
• To make the classic twisted pretzel shape, pick up the tapered ends of the 30-inch-long roll and cross your hands, right over left. The end that was on the right is now on the left. Repeat for a second twist. To complete the classic pretzel shape, lift the tapered ends and drape them over the sides of the bretzel, at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. You can leave the tips on top or flip the bretzel over, covering the ends with the sides of the bretzel. Either is correct. Your finished bretzel should be about 5 inches wide with very large openings to fill the pastry cream.
• Meanwhile, scrape the warm pastry cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. As soon as you have shaped a bretzel, pipe the pastry cream into the open spaces of the bretzels, overfilling them so the cream mounds above the dough. This helps prevent the dough from springing back on itself. With a wet finger, smooth any points left by the piping. Set the bretzels aside in a warm place to rise, about 30 minutes.
• To Finish and Bake the Bretzels:
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with 1/2 teaspoon water. With a pastry brush, brush the dough only with the egg wash. Bake until medium brown, about 20 minutes, rotating the pans front to back and top to bottom about halfway through. Let the bretzels cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets.
• Mix the powdered sugar in a bowl with just enough water to make a thin sugar glaze and brush it onto the breads. Let the bretzels continue to cool on the baking sheets until the pastry cream has firmed up. I like them best still warm from the oven (a privilege of living above a pastry shop), but they taste very good for the whole day.

Steps:

• 1. Set a clean, dry, nonreactive bowl and a sturdy rubber spatula near the stove. Put a large, fine strainer over a large bowlm ready to pour hot pastry cream through it.
• 2. In another bowl, mix the flour with 1 cup of the sugar. Whisk in the eggs until smooth. The mixture will be very thick.
• 3. In a 2 1/2- to 3-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix the milk, the remaining cup of sugar, and the salt. Scald over medium heat, stirring frequently so it doesn't scorch or form a skin. When the milk has a ring of small bubbles around the edge of the pan, remove it from the heat and, with a whisk, stir 1 cup of the milk, a little at a time, into the flour and egg mixture. Whisk in another cup of hot milk, then pour the now-tempered flour and egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk, whisking constantly. Still whisking constantly, but slowly, over medium to medium-low heat, cook the mixture until it thickens, Pull it off the heat at the first sign of a boil - as soon as the first bubble breaks on the surface. This will take about 5 minutes.
• 4. Immediately pour the hot pastry cream through the strainer and into the bowl, using the spatula to remove it all from the pan and to push it through the sieve. Stir in the vanilla.
• 5. Cover the very surface of the cream with wax paper or plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least several hours, or until chilled. Pastry cream can be kept refrigerated for several days, sometimes up to a week, depending on the efficiency of the refrigeration.