Mrs Beeton's Brioches

I felt like I needed something to keep my baking spirit aloft my after producing those rather 'interesting' looking macar-nots last week. Thankfully, help was at hand, in the form of Mrs. Beeton herself. I'd chanced upon a slim volume called Breakfast with Mrs Beeton - Hearty Fare the week before, when popping in to a local op-shop. The title was slightly misleading, as only a few of the recipes it in were hers, with the other recipes being more modern versions of what might have been found on Victorian breakfast table. But, it was only 50p, and you can never have too many books, right? So it came home with me.

This recipe came from one of the 'modern' recipes in that book. How do I know it's not one of Mrs Beeton's own? Because I'm fairly sure they didn't have polythene bags back in 1850. You're supposed to let the dough rise in a lightly oiled poly-bag, but lacking one, I simply stuck it into a lightly oiled glass bowl and popped a moist towel over it. 

The brioche turned out much better than my the chocolate macs, although slightly too dry for my liking. My bad, I should have taken it out of the oven sooner. 

They also make great bases for French toast, as I discovered a day later. Soak them in some eggs and milk, mix in some ground cinnamon and nutmeg, and fry them in lots of butter. Then, dollops of golden syrup over them, and brunch is served!