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It's a Saturday, I realize, but this is not an Ideas Post... and there hasn't been one for several weeks. The last one didn't get any votes, so I was just kind of leaving it there, and suddenly a month slid by. I haven't been keeping up with previous winners very well (obviously), so the idea is to catch up over the next few weeks (while I don't make anything new). We'll see how it goes....
I really liked both of the recipes voted for on Ideas Post 61, the Moroccan stuffed sweet potato and this sweet potato brioche with orange-pecan streusel from Bake from Scratch: Vol 1, which was technically the vote-winner. I made the brioche for Christmas dinner and I actually used the finished loaf for my inaugural photo shoot with my homemade light box (so excited (still!) about having these).
Bake from Scratch: Vol 1, so far as I can tell, is just a printed compilation of all the recipes published in the Bake from Scratch magazines during 2016. It seems like most of those recipes are also available for free, online, so you're paying for the privilege of having them all gorgeously printed together in a hardcover cookbook. That includes the recipe for this sweet potato brioche, which I'm linking here, but because recipes that don't give exact weights for important things like root vegetables that become a puree drive me crazy, and because I modified it slightly, I'm posting my version here.
The recipe looks a little long, but it's really not too much work. The active amount of prep work is just under an hour, encompassing the initial yeast bloom, the incorporation of the butter, making the streusel, and forming the spiraled dough. The most involved part is adding the (large quantity of) butter tablespoon-by-tablespoon.
Start out by roasting two medium-to-large sized sweet potatoes for 60 to 80 minutes. You want the flesh to be really, really soft. Once they're fully tender, let them cool, remove the peels, and smash the interior flesh. At this point, you can store the sweet potato flesh in the fridge for several days before proceeding.
The amount of yeast called for might be higher than what you're used to seeing in a bread recipe. This is because the fat (butter and eggs) in the bread slow the leavening process, so you need more yeast to achieve the appropriate loft.
I found the dough generally very supple and easy to work with, which makes sense given the amount of butter that went into it. I've never been very great at rolling dough out into an exact rectangle (or square or circle or any other symmetrical form), but I rolled my dough out to an inexact 9x16-inch rectangle with a thickness of about ¾-inch. The only problem came when it was time to roll the dough up to form the bread loaf. I'm so used to making cinnamon rolls, it was difficult for me to remember to roll up the dough starting from the short side. Since I rolled up the dough incorrectly from the long edge with the first half of dough, and since I was in a hurry to get the bread baked in time for dinner, I made one "loaf" into 12 rolls while I baked the other loaf as specified in the recipe.
As happens with somewhat disturbing frequency, it took my bread much longer to bake through in the oven than the original recipe implies. Fortunately, the original recipe did suggest starting out with the dough covered by aluminum foil, which helped prevent the dough from becoming overly dark.
Even though this brioche is called a sweet potato brioche and it contains 2.5 cups of the stuff, it really doesn't taste like sweet potato. The flavor of the bread is quite subtle, with the orange zest shining through as the primary (but not overwhelming) flavor. The bread crumb is quite delicate, with all the butter yielding a texture that is somehow light and airy. Cut into thick slices, toasted, then slathered with more butter, this brioche is remarkably good.
Sweet Potato Brioche with Orange-Pecan Streusel
Ingredients
Bread:
- 1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes 2-½ cups (325 grams) pureed
- ½ cup warm water 105°F to 110°F
- ¼ cup (50 grams) plus ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar divided
- 3 tablespoons (27 grams) active dry yeast
- 1+3 large eggs divided
- 1-⅓ cups (167 grams) plus 4 ½ cups (563 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tablespoon (9 grams) kosher salt
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
Streusel:
- 1-⅔ cups (209 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (113 grams) finely chopped pecans*
- ⅓ cup (73 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
For bread:
- Scrub the sweet potatoes clean, pat them dry, then pierce each several times with a fork. Place them on the lined sheet and bake until tender, about 60-80 minutes. Turn the oven off. Let the sweet potatoes cool for 20 minutes, then peel them and mash the flesh with a fork. You should have about 2-½ cups (325 grams) of roasted sweet potato pulp.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment**, combine ½ cup warm water, the first ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar, and the 3 tablespoons yeast. Let stand until mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes (less if you're using instant yeast).
- Add the 1 egg and the 1-⅓ cups (167 grams) flour. Beat at low speed until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the paddle and cover the bowl loosely with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes. You should see small bubbles forming around the edges of mixture when it finished with the first proof.
- Replace the paddle attachment and add the sweet potato purée, the salt, the remaining 3 eggs, the remaining 4-½ cups (563 grams) flour, and the remaining ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar. Beat the dough at low speed until everything is incorporated, stopping to scrape sides of bowl every so often.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer still running at medium speed, add the butter, 1 tablespoon (14 grams) at a time, letting each piece fully incorporate into the dough before adding the next piece. This will take at least 10 minutes.
- Grease a large bowl with cooking spray or vegetable oil. Place the dough in the oiled bowl, rotating it so the entire dough ball is greased. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm (ideally 75°F), draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
For streusel:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pecans, sugars, zest, and salt. Drizzle in the melted butter and stir it with a wooden spoon until combined. Crumble the streusel with your fingertips until you have medium-sized clumps.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. If you are making individual rolls, butter or spray two 9x13-inch baking trays with cooking spray. If you are making loaves, butter or spray two 9x5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Line the pans with parchment paper.
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Cover the halves loosely and let them rest for 10 minutes. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough half into a 16x9-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with one-third of the prepared streusel. Starting on one short side, roll up the dough jelly-roll style and press the seam to seal.
Forming loaves/rolls:
- To make loaves, place the dough seam side down in the prepared 9x5-inch loaf pan. Repeat with remaining dough and another one-third of streusel. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F) for 30 to 45 minutes. Brush the risen loaves with the beaten egg and sprinkle the tops with the remaining third of the streusel.
- To make individual rolls, cut the long rolled log of dough into 12 pieces by making decisive cuts with a serrated knife about 1-⅓ inches apart. Place each roll cut-side down in the prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining rolls. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F) for 20 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the reserved one-third of streusel (no need to egg wash these).
To bake:
- Bake, covering loosely with foil for the first half of baking to prevent excess browning, until golden brown.This should take 30-35 minutes for rolls or 60-75 minutes for 9x5-inch loaves. A thermometer inserted in the center should register 190°F. Let the brioche cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove the brioche from pans and place on wire racks to cool completely.
