Light Tropézienne (Cream-Filled Brioche)

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast + ½ tsp salt
• 90 g caster sugar (40 g for the brioche, 50 g for the cream)
• 4 eggs (2 for the brioche, 2 for the cream)
• 500 ml semi-skimmed milk (100 ml for the brioche, 400 ml for the cream)
• 50 g unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tbsp orange blossom water (1 for the brioche, 2 for the cream)
• 30 g pearl sugar
• 45 g cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300 g plain 0 % skyr

🍴 Utensils

• Large mixing bowl
• Saucepan
• Whisk
• Baking tray + baking paper
• Bread knife
• Piping bag

📖 Steps

1. Put the flour in the mixing bowl, then add 40 g caster sugar and the salt on one side and the yeast on the other: the salt must not touch it directly. Warm 100 ml milk (barely warm to the touch). Beat the 2 brioche eggs and keep 1 tbsp in the fridge for glazing.
2. Pour the warm milk, beaten eggs and 1 tbsp orange blossom water over the flour. Knead for 10 min by hand on the worktop (or 6 min in a stand mixer): the dough, sticky at first, becomes smooth and elastic. Resist the urge to add flour.
3. Work in the softened butter in 3 additions, kneading for another 5 min, until it is completely absorbed and the dough comes away from your fingers. Shape it back into a ball in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1 hour 30 min in a warm place: it should double in size.
4. While it rises, make the cream: heat 400 ml milk with the vanilla until it just starts to simmer. Whisk the other 2 eggs with 50 g caster sugar and the cornflour until pale, then gradually pour the hot milk over, whisking constantly.
5. Pour back into the pan and cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly, until the cream thickens and the first bubbles appear, then cook for 1 more min. Pour into a dish, cover with cling film touching the surface to stop a skin forming and refrigerate for at least 1 hour 30 min.
6. Knock back the dough by pressing it with your fist, shape it into a ball, then flatten it into a 22 cm disc on the baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover and leave to rise for another 45 min, until well puffed up. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
7. Gently brush the brioche with the reserved egg, sprinkle with pearl sugar and bake for 20 to 25 min, until deep golden and it sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack (the oven rack will do), or the cream would melt.
8. Whisk the cold cream to smooth it, then add the well-chilled skyr and 2 tbsp orange blossom water. Whisk just until the mixture is even, smooth and firm enough to hold its shape, then spoon it into the piping bag.
9. Slice the brioche in half horizontally with the bread knife. Pipe large dots of cream over the base, leaving 1 cm clear at the edge, put the top on and press very lightly. Refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting into 8 portions, again with the bread knife.