Brioche Cake with Four Creams, or Brioche alle Quattro Creme: If making and filling a panettone seems like too much work, you might want to try a Brioche alle Quattro Creme. It serves 12, and though it looks complex it's mostly a matter of slicing the cake up and spreading the creams across the slices. You'll need:
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- For the dough:
- 4 1/5 cups (500 g) flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter
- 3/8 cup (80 g) sugar
- 1/6 cup (40 ml) milk
- A 2/3-ounce (15 g) cake of baker's yeast
- 5 yolks
- An orange
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Flour and butter for the mold
- Salt
- Torroncino Cream:
- 6 ounces (150 g) white chocolate
- 1/2 cup (100 g) heavy cream
- 2 ounces (50 g) crunch nougat, finely ground
- Egg Cream:
- 1/2 cup (50 g) powdered sugar (without starch)
- 1/4 cup (50 g) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 2 ounces (50 g) egg whites
- 6 hard-boiled yolks
- Rum
- Chocolate cream:
- 8 ounces (200 g) baking chocolate
- 1/2 cup (100 g) heavy cream
- Powdered instant coffee to taste
- Pistachio cream:
- 4 ounces (100 g) finely ground peeled pistachios
- 4 ounces (100 g) white chocolate
- 1/4 cup (50 g) heavy cream
Preparation:
Begin making the brioche the day before, by making a batter with 3 cups of the flour and the yeast, dissolved in 3/4 cup warm but not hot water; let the mixture rise for 40 minutes and then transfer it to a mixing bowl with the remainder of the ingredients. Mix it all until the dough is smooth and elastic, then let it rise for about an hour, covered, in a tepid spot. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead it briefly, then shape it into a ball and put it into a buttered, floured round smooth-sided pan 4 inches high and 7 inches wide (10x 18 cm). Let the dough rise until the pan is 3/4 filled, then bake it in a 380 F (190 C) oven for an hour. Let it cool completely before filling it.
What do Italians do during the rest of the week following Christmas? Recover; Santo Stefano (the first martyr, on Dec. 26) is also a holiday, and that helps. And prepare for San Silvestro, new Year's. If you're not sure what bubbly to use, might I suggest either Bellavista, Villa, Il Mosnel, Monte Rossa, or La Ferghettina (all Franciacorta), La Scolca (a Gavi), Provenza's Cà Maiöl Brut (a Lugana), or Valerio Zenato's Lugana Brut? All quite nice.
- Torroncino Cream: Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, mix in the ground torrone and the cream, and chill them mixture, then whip it with a whip until thick and creamy.
- Egg Cream: Beat the butter and powdered sugar until the mixture is pale white and frothy. Put the hard-boiled yolks through a strainer. Beat the whites to firm peaks with the granulated sugar over a double boiler (very low heat), then fold the beaten whites and yolks into the frothy butter, flavoring all with a finger (of a shot-glass) of rum.
- Chocolate Cream: Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, stir in the cream and a little powdered coffee, chill the mixture, and then whip it until it's thick and creamy.
- Pistachio Cream: Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, stir the pistachios and cream into it, chill the mixture, and then whip it until it's thick and creamy.
What do Italians do during the rest of the week following Christmas? Recover; Santo Stefano (the first martyr, on Dec. 26) is also a holiday, and that helps. And prepare for San Silvestro, new Year's. If you're not sure what bubbly to use, might I suggest either Bellavista, Villa, Il Mosnel, Monte Rossa, or La Ferghettina (all Franciacorta), La Scolca (a Gavi), Provenza's Cà Maiöl Brut (a Lugana), or Valerio Zenato's Lugana Brut? All quite nice.
