Brioche Circles with Brie and Cherries

Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast -- because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.

Today: A project that's very, very (very, very) worth it. 

In the places I live, I seem to make friends with people and with bakeries. At least, I figure that must be what I’m doing because those are the things I feel bonded to and that I miss when I move away: my special people and my special bakeries.

The last neighborhood we lived in had my favorite bakery I’ve ever made friends with.  It was (is, I suppose, but I’m not there anymore, so, was) spectacularly tiny and everything they made was spectacularly delicious.  Perfectly flaky croissants and galettes, rustic fruit studded cakes, tender scones. I never ate a thing there I didn’t love. Unsurprisingly, my husband and I wandered our way over there every weekend to pick up a treat or two.

One of my favorite treats for mornings there was a round pillow of brioche topped with a slice of brie, a drizzle of honey, and seasonal fruit. This week I found myself so missing that bakery and those brioche circles, I decided I would just have to bake my own to eat for breakfast, gosh darn it. These are undeniably a project, but they are so very, very (very, very) worth it. And while there is, of course, no brioche like fresh brioche, if you make them on the weekend, the leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for several days and reheat quite nicely. Imagine how pleased you’ll feel with yourself come Tuesday morning!  

Brioche Circles with Brie and Cherries

Makes 8

Brioche

315 grams (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
340 grams (2 1/4 cups) bread flour
3 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
80 grams (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon) sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
5 large eggs
310 grams (1 cup + 6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into about 12 pieces

Filling and assembly

About 3 1/2 cups ripe cherries, washed, stemmed, and pitted
3 tablespoons honey
8 pieces of Brie, each about 1 inch square (or a bit more) and 1/3-inch thick
1/2 of the batch of brioche dough

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Emily Vikre