Brioches aux Pralines Roses

A specialty from Lyon, these brioches aux pralines roses are buttery, sweet and known for their vibrant pink color. Make them at home and enjoy a treat you can only find in France.

Brioches aux pralines roses

Brioche is a type of French bread, specifically in the category of viennoiserie. In a French bakery, you’d find it next to other viennoiserie like croissants and pain au chocolat. 

Brioche is made with an enriched dough, meaning there’s milk, eggs, sugar, and butter in the dough. Oh, yes…plenty of butter!

What makes these brioches special are the pralines roses, or pink pralines. 

In a recipe like this, the pralines are made up of sugar-covered almonds (not pecans, like we often see in the States). The pralines are also dyed pink.

The brioches are studded with the pralines roses throughout both the inside and top of the brioche.

When the brioches aux pralines bake, the pink sugar inside the dough melts and creates a bright pink crumb. 

Moreover, the pralines roses add sweetness to these French muffins. While the dough has a bit of sugar in it, it’s minimal in comparison to what you’d see in an American muffin. 

You get bites of sweetness from the pralines, as well as a quick coat of sugar on the top. Because once the brioches aux pralines are finished baking, you brush melted butter and sugar onto their surfaces, creating just another layer of sweetness. 

In all honesty, it’s not easy to find the pralines roses outside of France. I don’t want to say its impossible because I’ve heard from here and there that some random little French boutiques in New York and elsewhere have been rumored to carry them. 

Instead, you either have to purchase the pralines roses in France, or make your own. I’m lucky that I have a best friend in France who mails me these goodies when I’m not there, but making your own pralines is a great workaround.

I would just prepare them ahead of time because making pralines is its own little project. But the project is 100% worth it. 

The pralines roses add such wonderful texture and flavor to the brioche. Plus, look at how gorgeous they are inside that fluffy brioche!

You can bake these brioches in brioche tins (like [easyazon_link identifier=”B000KENNHS” locale=”US” tag=”monpetitfour-20″]these[/easyazon_link]) or you can place them side-by-side in a round cake [easyazon_link identifier=”B001BCNT3Q” locale=”US” tag=”monpetitfour-20″]pan[/easyazon_link] (like you would for cinnamon rolls, for example).

Brioches aux pralines roses

Yield: 8

Brioche muffins studded with pink, almond pralines. 

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Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar, plus more for the top
• 2.25 tsp active dry yeast 1 packet
• 1 tsp table salt
• 2 large eggs , plus 1 egg beaten for the egg wash
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup salted butter , softened, cubed, plus more for the tins and the top
• 1/2 cup pralines roses, plus more for the top

Instructions

1. Heat the milk until its warm, but not too hot that you can't hold your finger in it for longer than 5 seconds. Add the active dry yeast to the milk and give it a gentle stir. Let it rest for 5 minutes. 
2. In the meanwhile, combine the flour and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Alternatively, you can just use a large bowl and a wooden spoon. Add the eggs and beat those in. 
3. Pour in the yeast-milk mixture and mix everything together to create a shaggy looking dough. Add the butter to the dough and mix well for a minute or two. You want to create a wet, sticky dough that sticks to the sides of the bowl.
4. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough until you get a smooth compact ball. Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Turn on the oven's warm setting for 30 seconds, then turn it off. Place the dough in the oven and let it rest for at least 2 hours, until doubled in size. 
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Add about 1/2 cup of the pralines all over the top of the dough. Then fold the sides of the dough inward and over the pralines to envelope the pralines inside the dough. Knead the dough for a bit to help distribute the pralines all throughout the dough. 
6. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and either place them in buttered brioche tins, or assemble them next to each other in a buttered, round cake pan (like you would for cinnamon rolls). Cover the brioche balls with a sheet of plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. 
7. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Gently place a few pralines into the tops of the brioche balls. Brush the tops with the beaten egg. Bake for about 16-18 minutes, until the tops are a deep golden brown. When the brioche balls come out of the oven, brush the tops with a mixture of 2 tbsp melted butter and 1 tbsp sugar.  

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