bq.. Marie Antoinette, history tells us, said before her death "Let them eat cake". In fact it was "Let them eat brioche".

It was most likely that the English misinterpreted brioche as cake, as those familar with brioche know that it is very high in eggs and butter with a little sugar, and so has a cake-like texture.

If you are going to make brioche, you have to do it right, with lots of butter and eggs. (In France they make two types: rich man's and poor man's brioche-the difference being the amount of butter and eggs.)

p. --Source: ["All you want to know about brioche recipes (All you want to know about brioche recipes by Dean Brettschneider)":http://www.bianz.co.nz/dean2.html]--

bq. The word brioche first appeared in print in 1404, and this bread is believed to have sprung from a traditional Norman recipe. It is often served as a pastry or as the basis of a dessert, with many local variations in added ingredients, fillings and toppings. It is also used with savoury preparations, particularly with foie gras, and is used in some meat dishes.

p. --Source: ["Wikipedia (Brioche on Wikipedia)":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brioche]--

h2. The Recipe

h3. Ingredients

* 250 gr [9 oz] plain flour
* 125 gr [4.5 oz] unsalted warm butter
* 2 eggs
* 3 tbsp warm milk
* 2 tbsp sugar
* 20 g (2/3 oz) yeast
* 1 pinch salt

h3. Method

# Mix the yeast with the warm milk.
# Put the flour in a bowl and dig a well in the middle.
# In the well put the milk, yeast, eggs, soft butter, sugar and salt.
# Whisk with a wooden spoon, work until you obtain an homogeneous and "elastic" mixture. You need to do this at least 20 minutes (some mixers have a kneading function which you can use).
# Pour the paste in a buttered and floured brioche tin.
# Leave for 2 hours at rooms temperature; it should double in volume.
# Bake in preheated oven at 260 C (500 F) for 10 minutes, then at 200 C (400 F) for 20 minutes.
# Take out from tin right away and let cool down on a cooling tray.

In theory, that should make a pretty nice brioche but I've yet to try it out! I'll certainly update this page once everything has gone smoothly and my belly is full of yummy brioche.