Brioche with Chocolate Banana Cardamom Jam
I often make brioche dough on Friday, bake it fresh for Saturday breakfast, and turn the leftovers into some kind of bread pudding on Sunday – very little fuss, really, and a lot of appreciation from the family.
The brioche recipe I use these days (and I’m not looking for another) is an Alice Medrich’s adaptation of Desiré Valentin brioche, the best bread I’ve had. The brilliant idea of the chocolate banana jam belongs to the local genii – Dominique and Cindy Duby. It can perfectly replace Nutella for those who can’t eat nuts.
Makes two 8×4-inch brioche loaves and about 29 oz (700g) jam
For the chocolate banana jam:
- 4 medium-sized ripe bananas, peeled and mushed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- ½ tsp ground cardamom, toasted
- 3.6 oz (100g) 70% dark chocolate finely chopped
For the brioche:
- 3 cups (15 oz) bread flour
- 20 tbsp (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold
- 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup warm water (105 to 115 F)
- 5 eggs, cold
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg + 1 tsp water, beaten lightly, for egg wash
Make the chocolate banana jam:
Combine the bananas, sugar, orange juice, and cardamom in a heavy tall stainless steel saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring, for about 5-8 minutes. Take off the heat, stir in the chopped chocolate. Puree with an immersion blender until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the jam into a clean container fitted with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Make the brioche:
Spread the flour in a wide baking pan. Freeze at least 30 minutes or until needed.
Using the paddle attachment of a heavy-duty mixer, beat the cold butter only until creamy, smooth, and free of lumps when pinched between your fingers. Scrape the butter into a mound on parchment paper and refrigerate. Proceed with the recipe right away; a long delay will reharden the butter.
Dissolve the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar in the warm water. Pour the dissolved yeast in the mixer bowl. Attach the dough hook. Add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, salt, and the flour and mix until blended. Knead the dough on medium speed for 5 minutes. After kneading period the dough will be very soft, sticky, and elastic. It will all be wrapped around the dough hook. Add the cold creamed butter in several pieces, pushing it into the dough, and beat with the hook until thoroughly incorporated. Stop several times to scrape the dough from the bowl and hook. Scrape the dough into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Up to 24 hours later, butter two medium-sized loaf pans. Scrape the cold dough out onto a floured surface. Divide into 20 more or less equal portions, about 2 oz each. Form each portion into a small ball and arrange 10 balls on the bottom of each loaf pan (2 rows of 5 balls). Spray with oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and place into a warm place to proof, for about 2 hours or until almost doubled.
Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the egg wash gently over the top of each loaf, taking care not to get it onto the pans. Bake the brioches until deeply brown, or an instant-read thermometer reads 200F when inserted in the center of the bread, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly, unmold, cool on the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Your brioche looks absolutely perfect and lovely!!
What a beautiful brioche! That chocolate spread must taste wonderful too…
Cheers,
Rosa
Wow, this sounds like such a simple, tasty jam recipe! Banana and chocolate is such a winner! Your family is lucky…
Beautiful! You have inspired me to make Brioche! I was thinking about making the brioche from “The Craft of Baking” but will try yours instead.
Where do you find such wonderful jars? Thank you for the inspiration and incredible recipe and ideas!
What a lovely pic!….I have few question,….how long will the jam keep?….does it last long like the other jams…And can we use all purpose flour instead of bread flour?
Sorry, i just read the one about he banana jam…but please answer othe one
Wow.. the banana and cardamom jam sounds divine.
Thank you all very much for the kind comments!
Ann Marie, the jars are ordinary Mason jars from the canning isle of an ordinary grocery store.
Shabs, yes, the all-purpose flour will do just fine.
The bread and jam look heavenly! I wish it would just pop up in front of my face this instant. I’m thinking.. half Nutella, half banana jam. Yum!
Oh! Your brioche alreay looks so yummie…must taste even better with the jam :-)
Hi Vera
The jam looks lovely. Does the bananas have to be very ripe as in with black spots ?
Maya
Mmmmmmm - you had me at “chocolate banana jam”! Bookmarking NOW!
wow the brioche looks amazing, so soft and fluffy! and the jam….yum! Cardamon is a nice touch!
Your brioche alone looks fabulous but the jam just pushes it over the edge!! Wow! So inventive and sounds divine
I bet your family loves your bread making skills!
your brioche looks delish.. have been looking for a good recipe for ages..
but is there a way to make the dough without a machine (i dont have a machine with a dough hook attachment)?
is hand kneading ok?? or is it not going to be good enough???
Thank you, everyone, for the comments!
Viola, you can’t just knead the brioche dough by hand,it’s quite wet and sticky, and you don’t want to melt all this butter. You can mix it with a wooden spoon instead, but I have to warn you - this is a strenuous exercise. Ask someone to help, take turns.
Aie aie aie, it seems so delicious!!!!
i absolutely love the idea of the jam! I just finished off a jar of banana preserves which i adored, and of course, i can never get enough nutella, so this really sounds like the perfect combination! thanks for the inspiration
it really looks delicious and so so sweet, my kind of dessert, love it! cheers from london
Not only your brioche looks great but that jam must be out of this world good!!! It looks like Nutella, and that only can be a goos thing!
Love, love, love brioche and am very intrigued by this jam. I was just going to say it looks like Nutella! :)
Am going to try this jam as it has all my favourites, especially chocolate and cardamom.
Amazing recipes. I can’t wait to try both of them!
i’ve been wanting to try Alice’s brioche recipe - ive got it book marked - thx for the reminder here!
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