Montmorency Timbale

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer fitted with a dough hook
• •1.5-litre (6-cup), 18 cm charlotte mould or straight-sided soufflé dish
• •Digital sugar thermometer
• •Small crescent, round, and lozenge cutters
• •Pastry brush
• •Small serrated knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the brioche

   Combine the flour, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs and milk, then mix with the dough hook on low speed until no dry flour remains. Add the salt and knead at medium-low speed for 6 minutes. Feed in the softened butter a spoonful at a time, allowing each addition to disappear before adding the next, then knead for another 7 to 9 minutes. The dough is ready when it is glossy, elastic, and pulls from the bowl in long strands.

   If the butter pools and the dough turns greasy, stop and chill the bowl for 10 minutes before continuing. Ça se rattrape. The butter has become too warm, but the dough isn't lost.
2. 2

   Give it strength

   Gather the dough into a smooth ball, place it in a lightly buttered bowl, and cover it. Let it rise in a comfortably warm place for 60 to 90 minutes, until visibly aerated and about half again its original size. Rich brioche rises with composure rather than drama, so don't wait for it to balloon. Press out the largest gas pockets and chill it for 20 minutes, just long enough to make the butter firm and shaping tidy.

3. 3

   Mould and prove

   Butter a 1.5-litre, 18 cm charlotte mould or straight-sided soufflé dish thoroughly. Shape the chilled dough into a tight ball and set it seam-side down in the mould. Cover and prove for 45 to 60 minutes, until the crown reaches about 2.5 cm below the rim and springs back slowly when touched. Brush the top gently with the dorure (egg wash), keeping it away from the sides of the mould so the loaf can rise freely.

4. 4

   Bake and cool

   Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 35 minutes, until the brioche is a deep butter-gold and sounds hollow when tapped beneath. If the crown colours before the centre is baked, lay a loose sheet of foil over it. Rest it in the mould for 10 minutes, turn it onto a rack, and let it become completely cold. Don't hollow warm brioche. The crumb tears and compresses, and no amount of decoration gives that structure back.

5. 5

   Bake pale ornaments

   While the brioche cools, roll the cold puff pastry about 3 mm thick. Cut small crescents, lozenges, and roundels, keeping them between 2 and 3 cm across. Arrange them on parchment, prick each once, cover with a second sheet of parchment, and place a light baking sheet on top to keep them neat. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 15 to 18 minutes, until dry, layered, and still pale. Cool on a rack.

   These pieces are ornaments, not bronzed biscuits. If a few colour at the edges, keep them for tasting and place the palest shapes on the timbale.
6. 6

   Hollow the case

   Set the cold brioche upright and slice off its domed top level with the mould line. With a small serrated knife, cut a circle 2 cm inside the outer wall, stopping 2 cm above the bottom. Pull out the centre crumb in pieces, then tidy the cavity with your fingers so the sides and base remain an even 2 cm, the three-quarters of an inch required by the dish. If the knife nicks the wall, press a fitted piece of crumb into the hole from inside with a dab of apricot jam. The patch will hold once glazed.

7. 7

   Poach the cherries

   Bring the water and sugar to a gentle boil in a wide saucepan, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Add the sour cherries and poach at a bare simmer until tender but still whole, 4 to 6 minutes for fresh fruit or about 7 minutes for frozen fruit. Lift the cherries into a bowl with a slotted spoon. Whisk the redcurrant jelly and seedless raspberry preserve into the syrup, simmer for 1 minute, then return the cherries and remove the pan from the heat. The syrup should lightly veil a spoon while remaining pourable.

   If the syrup remains watery, lift out the cherries and simmer the liquid for another minute. If it tightens like jam, whisk in a tablespoon of water. Ça se rattrape. Cool the garnish until warm rather than hot so it doesn't crush the brioche.
8. 8

   Glaze and decorate

   Prepare the apricot jam to the small-thread stage exactly according to The Cooking of Sugar (No. 2344), using a digital thermometer in place of the old finger test. While the glaze is fluid, brush it over the entire exterior and cut rim of the brioche in a thin, even coat. Press the pale puff-pastry crescents, lozenges, and roundels onto the tacky glaze in a loose repeating pattern. If the glaze stiffens before you finish, warm it gently with a teaspoon of water.

9. 9

   Fill at service

   Set the decorated brioche on its serving platter before the filling goes anywhere near it. When everyone is ready, warm the cherry garnish over low heat only until the syrup loosens, then pour the cherries and their raspberry-redcurrant syrup into the hollow case. Carry it directly to the table and cut generous wedges while the walls still hold and the inner crumb has only begun to drink the syrup. This last-minute filling is not optional ceremony. It is the timbale. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Montmorency cherries are sour cherries, not sweet eating cherries. If fresh ones are out of season, use frozen pitted sour cherries straight from the classical pantry. They were picked ripe and suit the syrup far better than tired fresh fruit.
• •All-butter purchased puff pastry is the honest home equivalent of the trimmings a pastry bench kept ready. You need only a narrow sheet, and making a full batch solely for a handful of decorations is brigade scaffolding, not the heart of this dessert.
• •Redcurrant jelly provides tartness and a clean set; seedless raspberry preserve supplies the perfume called for by the original raspberry-flavoured jelly. Don't replace both with raspberry jam, which makes the syrup sweet, cloudy, and heavy.
• •The timbale waits beautifully when empty and not at all once filled. Bring the platter, knife, plates, and guests into place first, then add the cherries. Never apologize at your own table, but don't make the brioche wait in syrup either.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the brioche one day ahead, cool it completely, and keep it uncut in an airtight container at room temperature. Hollowing is best done on the day it will be served.
• •Bake the puff-pastry ornaments one day ahead and store them airtight once completely cold. Humidity softens them, so don't refrigerate them.
• •Prepare the cherry garnish several hours ahead and keep it covered in the cold. Warm it gently until pourable just before filling the timbale.
• •The brioche may be hollowed, glazed, and decorated up to 4 hours before serving. Keep it loosely covered at cool room temperature and fill only when the table is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)