Brioche with marzipan

bake Baking sweet
Total: 3 hr 5 min. | Active: 30 min.
vegetarian

It often doesn't take much to make a bake look beautiful. When it comes to brioche, all the possible shapes and sizes mean that it can look different every time. It's a treat for the eyes before you even taste it. And this braided brioche is no exception. It is beautiful and versatile, and can be served with a simple icing or refined with a chocolate glaze or cream. I prefer it plain (I think it's a shame to cover it up) and it's still utterly delicious like this!

Recipe by:
Sarah - Fragola & Limone

Ingredients

for 1 bread

Dough
370 g zopf flour
50 g sugar
1 tsp salt
1 parcel dry yeast (7 g)
2 dl milk
1  egg
40 g butter, soft
Filling
150 g almonds
130 g sugar
60 g butter
1  egg
¼ tsp bourbon vanilla sugar
5 drop bitter almond extract
Mascarpone frosting
75 g icing sugar
20 g mascarpone
20 g butter
1 tbsp milk

How it's done

Dough

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Add the milk, egg and butter, knead for approx. 10 mins. to form a soft, smooth dough. Place the dough in a bowl lined with cling film, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for approx. 1½ hrs. until doubled in size.

Filling

Toast the almonds in a frying pan for approx. 4 mins., stirring occasionally, leave to cool. Puree the almonds in a food processor, add the sugar, continue to puree until the mixture is creamy. In a bowl, mix the almond mixture with the butter, egg, vanilla sugar and bitter almond extract, set aside.

To shape

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle (approx. 35 × 45 cm). Spread the filling on top and smooth down. Roll up the dough, starting from the narrow end. Cut the roll in half lengthwise, braid the strands with the cut sides facing up. Shape into a wreath and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper (approx. 24 cm in diameter). Cover the wreath and leave to rise for a further 30 mins.

To bake

Approx. 35 mins. in an oven preheated to 180°C (convection). Remove from the oven, slide onto a cooling rack, allow to cool slightly.

Mascarpone frosting

Combine the icing sugar, mascarpone, butter and milk, drizzle the frosting on top of the warm wreath, leave to dry.

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