Friday, August 5, 2011

Avocado Brioche

Do you love brioche as much as I do?
Do you love coffee with them? I do too.
But do you stay away from them because of the butter? I do too.
Then you should read further. Because, I solved that problem.
How, by replacing 'not so good for the butts and thighs' butter with
'healthy and good for you' Avocado.
Genius, isn't it? But, I have used eggs in them. I know I could've done something to replace it but had to use up the eggs.
I could've used whole wheat flour instead of white flour too but then I would've called it 'Avocado bread' just to be safe.
One year back -  Yam Rolls, Banana Bread
Adapted from - King Arthur Flour
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 4 cups (Start with 3 cups and add more if needed - See notes)
Dry milk powder - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Eggs - 3 large
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Instant yeast - 1 TBSP
Avocado - mashed and measured 2/3 cup(in the dry measuring cup)

For egg wash: (optional)
Egg - 1 whisked with a TBSP of milk (you will left with quite a bit - save it for another loaf and throw it out)
Coarse sugar for sprinkling - I used turbinado as that is what I had.

Method:
For making this bread by hand, refer to the source link given above. I placed all the ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in this order - eggs, water, sugar, salt, mashed avocado, dry milk powder, flour, yeast and turned it on the dough setting. When the cycle completed, took it out and kept in an oiled bowl twice the size of the dough. Cover it with a lid and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours at least or even overnight. I left the dough in the refrigerator over night. Dough is very silky, smooth but a bit tacky. Not like traditional brioche dough which has loads of butter in it.
Take out the dough and punch down to deflate. On a surface sprayed with vegetable oil spray, divide the dough into two parts. Each part into 3 parts. Roll each part into a rope of about 10 " long. Braid them. Grease two 8 X 4 pan with vegetable oil spray. Place the braided dough in the pan. Repeat the same with the other half of the dough. Cover with an oiled plastic wrap and let it rise. 1 - 2 hours depending on how hot it is in your kitchen. It took me about 1 1/2 hours. You should let the dough rise only till the rim of the pan. It rises a lot in the oven too.
Towards the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 350 F. Beat the egg with milk for egg wash if using. Brush the loaves with the egg and milk mixture and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and tent with a foil to prevent over browning. Place it back in the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes more or till golden and the internal temperature is  205 F. Cool in the pan for few minutes and then turn it on to the wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:
I converted a regular brioche into one without any butter. Avocado has more water content than butter and that explains the need to add more than what the original recipe called for. And I used the huge Florida Avocado which, I felt is not as thick as the regular Hass Avocado. Also, I also doubled the sugar. More sugar, more wet the dough will be. But, this is one of the best breads I have baked. But then, I am very partial to sweet breads anyway.

I am sending these to Susan's Yeastspotting.

Enjoy.

21 comments:

  1. This looks delicious! I love the avocado and your loaves are very pretty :)

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  2. wow, looks super. I am yet to try this bread, I mean try to eat it. Forget about making, it will take me few more years to get there. Yours have come out beautifully !!!

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  3. Interesting and healthy brioche with avocados. Looks yumm..

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  4. Wow! Is it really possible to replace butter with avocado? But the way it's done is awesome, I would love to prepare one.

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  5. What an idea! Sounds perfect for breakfast :)

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  6. Beautiful bread! What an interesting idea to replace butter with avacado and a smart one at that. Will definitely be trying this, thanks for sharing!

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  7. What a great and unique idea!
    I absolutely love it!!
    Great work

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  8. What an interesting way to make brioche. I can't wait to try this out. Thanks for sharing.

    www.mangezbrioche.com

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  9. These loaves look so gorgeous! I love the thought that they contained no butter at all. Now I'm going to put my avocados to good use!

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  10. Genius indeed. What a clever variation. Wonderful recipe!

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  11. I really like the sound of using avocado in a brioche like this!

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  12. What a great Idea! I seldom bake brioche, but your butterfree version sounds really great!

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  13. Well, it's not only a great idea, it also tastes wonderfully !!
    Baked it last week - using one of my own recipe with your idea of using avocado instead of butter, and my family just lovvvvvvvvvvvved it !
    Thank you :)

    You can see my post here
    http://winnish.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_24.html
    (translator - on top left side-bar), with credit and link to your post.

    Again - thanks.

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  14. Winnie,
    Thank you so much for giving the feedback. I really appreciate it.

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  15. Hi,
    i'l like to try this this weekend. But can i just check with you - 1 TBS of instant yeast is correct? it seems like a lot.
    THanks!

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  16. Anonymous,
    It is not too much. You are making two loaves and 1 TBSP is just 3 tsp. 1 1/2 tsp per loaf. Good luck and do let me know how it turns out.

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  17. Dear Champa,

    It's me again. I made this today and wrote a little abt it here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24812/avocado-brioche#comment-186292. I referenced your blog, hope you don't mind.

    I used 375g + 3TBS of strong bread flour, 20g of sugar (can do with more) and a scant 1 TBS of yeast (because my temp here is really high). For those who work with metric measurements, the 2/3 cup of avocado translates to abt 65g x 2= 130g (measured roughly). I made one braided loaf in a tin slightly larger than your 8"x4" and a medium brioche a tete, or attempted to in any case...

    The dough grew like a monster even when refrigerated, so i folded it down once more after refrigeration.

    It was delicious and we liked it very much.It's definitely good to have this healthy option. And i should tell you, if you have Chad Robertson's Tartine, you must try his olive oil brioche, very delicious too! THANKS!

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  18. WW,
    Thanks for the feedback. And thank you for mentioning your experiment on freshloaf. I am sure it will help people baking with different ideas. That is what the beauty of baking bread is. No need to stick to a recipe. Use your own imagination. Isn't it?

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  19. I have just accidentaly found your blog and am inspired once again, years ago I used to bake daily for my husband and father in law but had to stop when my father in law was told by his doctor that he had put on too much weight and had to stop eating my bread, you see he would make a point of calling at our home just about lunchtime every day,(excuse to see beloved grand daughter, when the bread was still warm)take half a loaf a chunk of vintage cheddar cheese and some pickles, saying that it was as close to heaven as you could get, but I digress, some time has now passed and I have time again to make bread but had forgotten just how rewarding it is to produce the staff of life, so I would love to make this bread but being English I have trouble with your American cups, so could you tell me if possible the weight of the ingredients, because this is one bread that I have got to make.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Yours must be longest comment I have got in the past 2 1/2 years. Very honest. Thank you for that. I found this link which converts cups to gms - http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/

      I hope you have the same TBSP measurement there. If yes, 1/4 cup is 4 TBSP. At the same time, you need to be careful that when measured in cups, the flour can be more or less. So, use your judgement and start with less and keep adding till you get the correct consistency of the dough.

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  20. Hi,
    Just wanted to let you know I made your avocado brioche again. The last time was, gosh, so long ago! Thanks again!

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