French Fridays With Dorie - Nutella Tartine

Chocolate, thick and oh so sweet

From a spoon, it's you I eat,

You look so good, taste so nice

I'd even eat you on fried rice...

~ Nutella poem, Ninja Girl

January was a write-off as far as blogging is concerned. Here I am thinking February will be much, much better but I've already missed last week's French Fridays recipe, Gorgonzola-Apple Quiche, something I had so wanted to bake as well! Already, I'm running out of excuses as to why I've gone MIA lately...let's just say life has taken over and left me with very little time and energy to focus on my culinary activities and writing. To quote E.B. White, "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day". Yes, too right, my friend!

Anyway, back to today....I couldn't possibly pass up the chance to make this week's FFWD recipe, Nutella Tartine. Well, it isn't even a recipe per se but an assemblage of several beautiful ingredients we all have in our pantries (and if you don't, you should start questioning if you're really living, you know).

Nutella Tartine is a favorite French after-school treat and apparently - because I hardly drink coffee - it also goes quite well with a hot cup of espresso. All you have to do to make it is warm up several spoonsfuls of Nutella, then drizzle it over buttered, toasted brioche slices. In Pierre Hermé's version as recounted by Dorie in Around My French Table, the toasted bread is slathered with bitter orange marmalade, Nutella and sprinkled on top with chopped hazelnuts and fleur de sel. 

Of course, in my version of Nutella Tartine, that would be wholemeal toast spread with a layer of butter, a layer of peach jam (I had run out of marmalade, sadly) and frivolously decorated with thin orange slices, warmed-up Nutella, toasted almonds and pink river salt. These deviations from the original Tartine didn't affect its deliciousness one bit, that much I can assure you. 

So Voilà...this week's recipe has been accomplished! Next week's will be a savory one - Mussels and Chorizo with or without Pasta. Oh, that will be a challenge for me as I'm really not that good with all things seafood, or let me rephrase that, all things savory. If you're keen though, come back next week to this same spot to see how I've done. No sorry, don't come back....just come and cook with us in French Fridays with Dorie :). 

I've really missed you, Doristahs (my Dorista sistahs and brothahs). Here's wishing all of you a weekend crammed with heaven!

French Fridays With Dorie - Bubble-Top Brioches

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.
~ T.S. Eliot

This is it - my first new year post, finally. Nearly a week into January, I'm taking my time to ease into 2012. No need to rush...I'm trying to savor every minute (and that's not even a new year resolution, by the way). What better way to start off with than by baking bread, and Dorie Greenspan's Bubble-Top Brioches at that? After a couple of weeks of missing out on French Fridays with Dorie, I was truly looking forward to baking these beauties!

The dough was soft, buttery and beautiful to work with. Part of the preparation method was to chill the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours after the first rising, slapping it down every half hour or so until it no longer rises so actively. Then chill it overnight to attain a perfect brioche texture. Call me weird, but that slapping part was probably the most stress-busting fun I've had in a while. The dough was so accommodating to my hard whacks, it kept bouncing gently back. So inspirational, I should carry that resilient attitude inside me throughout the year. For always, even.

Whack the dough down until you leave your mark :)

In the past, I've tried baking several versions of brioches using slightly different techniques of preparing the dough but I must admit, this was the best-textured dough I've ever made. I was worried because it was very soft, almost batter-like to start with, but I simply stuck to Dorie's instructions and suddenly, magic happened! The dough was not even as sticky as I'd anticipated, and sadly for this post, no drama whatsoever was involved in rolling it into 'bubbles'. Pretty easy.

4 to 5 bubble-tops - I was just trying to be clever ( it didn't work!).

Do check out this fab brioche recipe in Dorie's cookbook, Around My French Table. It can be made into brioche loaves too. Hmm...I wonder if any of the Doristas did just that? Find out more about their versions  of this bread here.