I finally made Brioche Raisin Snails, the mysterious pastry that the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers made back in 2008. As a raisin lover, this has been on my radar for quite some time. When Golden Brioche Loaves were selected for last week’s recipe, it was the kick I needed to get going on the snails. If you remember back to last week, I divided my dough in half and used 1/3 of the 1/2 to make a mini brioche loaf. The other 2/3 turned into these lovely pastries.
I gave some of these to a friend, and right away she told me that she remembered eating brioche with me at Paris Las Vegas and I loved it and was wondering how I could make it at home. That was at least seven years ago and I don’t remember it. (To clarify, I DO remember the trip to Las Vegas, and I even remember eating at the Paris buffet; it’s just the part about the brioche that slipped my mind.) Even though I haven’t spent the last seven years dreaming about making brioche, I still think it’s pretty cool that I made it.
What I did: I made the brioche dough on day one You can read more about the brioche process here. I also made pastry cream on day one. On day two, I warmed up the raisins with some dark rum (I skipped the part where you set them on fire), rolled the dough, spread on the pastry cream, sprinkled on the raisins, rolled it up, and cut it. After some rising time, the snails went in the oven.
How it went: I’ve made pastry cream before using different recipes, and every time, including this time, I think I messed it up. But in the end, I didn’t scramble the eggs and I think it was fine. I’m not the neatest roller of dough or slicer of dough, but it all went pretty well. I should have remembered that trick of using dental floss to slice soft dough, but I never remember that at the right time.
How it tasted: Buttery, tender, studded with boozy raisins, drizzled with a sugary glaze. My husband, who does not love raisins, and doesn’t usually get past a courtesy taste of anything with raisins, loved them and ate several. My dad, who does love raisins, did not love these. He didn’t think they had enough flavor. I kind of see his point, as these are not a flavor explosion, but the flavors that were there worked for me. My friend loved them and told me to start writing my business plan, and my mom told me to open a bakery. For now, I think I’ll stick to my home kitchen.
This recipe was hosted by Peabody on March 18, 2008, and you can see her version of the recipe (she made some changes) here, or you can click here to see the version of the recipe that’s in the book. But wait, you have a copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours, don’t you? Just open it to page 56 and get your snails on!
