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Paste, Brioche

Brioche paste may be served in a great variety of ways, all of which are excellent. It may be baked in one large cake; in fancy shapes, such as rings and twists; or in small loaves, rolls, or buns. Gruyere and Parmesan cheese or sweets may be introduced into it, or small portions may be stewed in soup, or fried, or used as the outer crust in which rissoles are cooked. Its most usual form, however, is that of a sort of double cake, the two parts being moulded separately, and moistened before they are joined, to cause them to adhere closely to one another. The upper portion of the brioche should be made smaller than the lower one, and the entire cake should be brushed over with beaten egg before it is put into the oven. It must be baked in a well-heated oven. The quantity only which will be wanted for immediate use should be made at one time, as brioche paste will not keep. When properly prepared it is light and springy to the touch before it is baked, and it ought to rise in the sponge to fully twice its original size. It is made as follows. Take a pound (weighting sixteen ounces) of dried and sifted flour. Divide it into four parts, and with one of these parts make the leaven. To do this, put the flour into a bowl, make a hollow in the middle of it, and pour into this hollow half an ounce of German yeast dissolved in a spoonful or two of warm water. Add as much water as is required to make the whole into a soft smooth paste, gather it into a ball, and put it into a bowl large enough to contain three times its quantity. Score the paste lightly across the top with the blunt side of a knife, cover with a cloth, and put it in a warm place to rise; it will be ready in about twenty minutes. Whilst it is rising take the remaining three parts of the flour, make a hole in the centre, and put into this hole a quarter of an ounce of salt, half an ounce of powdered sugar dissolved in two table-spoonfuls of tepid water, ten ounces of butter, which has been washed in two or three waters, squeezed in a cloth to free it from moisture, and broken into small pieces, and four eggs freed from the specks. Work all gently together with the fingers, and add one by one three more eggs, until the paste is quite smooth, and neither too hard to be worked easily nor so soft that it sticks to the fingers. When the leaven is sufficiently risen, put it upon the paste, and mix both together with the fingers gently and thoroughly. Put the dough into a basin, and leave it in a warm place all night. Early on the following morning knead it up afresh, let it rise two hours longer, and knead once more before it is baked. Brioche paste should be put into a well-heated oven. The time required for baking depends, of course, upon the size of the cake. Its appearance will soon show when it is done enough. The materials here given, if baked in one cake, would require about half an hour. Probable cost, 2s. Sufficient for half a dozen persons.