Enjoying a brioche without too much guilt is absolutely possible, especially if it doesn’t contain animal fats and eggs. The lemon brioche with sourdough starter, the latest out of my kitchen, although they don’t contain butter, milk, or eggs, nor any lactose-containing ingredients, are incredibly soft, very fragrant, and delicious enough to surprise you. Everyone can enjoy them because they are so good that they have nothing, absolutely nothing, to envy from traditional ones. Thanks to the balance between the flours and other ingredients, the softness of these brioches is such that you will find it even the next day, as well as the taste. They can be enjoyed plain or filled as you like. The ones in the photo are filled with lemon cream, very easy and super quick to make, and fresh fruit, in this case strawberries. But don’t worry if you don’t have a sourdough starter, here you will find the basic version made with yeast.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8-10
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 100 g Sourdough starter
- 1 3/4 cups Manitoba flour
- 2/3 cup Flour 0
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 tsp Limoncello (or Strega)
- 1 Small lemon
- 1/3 cup Light vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 1 g Fine salt
- 7 oz Spreadable cheese (lactose-free or traditional)
- 1 cup Fresh cream without lactose (vegetable or traditional)
- 2 tablespoons heaped sugar
- q.b. Lemon zest
- 10 1/2 oz Strawberries
Preparation
After refreshing the natural yeast according to your habits, take 100 grams and transfer it directly into a large bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer (we will knead with the hook at low speed). We will use it immediately, without waiting for it to rise. If, however, you are not sure about the strength of your yeast, perhaps because it is “young” or because it is not refreshed often, let it rise before using it in the dough to give it more strength.
In the bowl, pour both sifted flours, salt, water, the liqueur (which is optional), sugar, vegetable oil, and the grated zest of the whole lemon. Then cut the lemon in half and use the juice from only one half (about 2 tablespoons) and add it to the other ingredients. Knead for about 10 minutes, until you get a nice smooth, and very soft dough. Turn it onto the worktable and work it with your hands for another minute, rolling it over on itself gently. Place it in a large bowl, seal with plastic wrap, and let it double in volume. You can choose to let it rise in the fridge, in the coldest part, for a long fermentation (which I recommend doing overnight, for convenience); or leave it at room temperature. If the day is hot and dry, like today, and if your sourdough starter is strong and active, it will take about 5/7 hours, also because it is a simple leavened dough that does not contain animal fats, eggs, which already by themselves tend to slow down the leavening. In winter, the times are much longer, almost double, but, I repeat, it always depends on the house temperature and the strength of the yeast.
After the dough has doubled its starting volume, we can shape it. Gently turn the dough onto a worktable (no need to add flour because it is soft but not sticky), roll it into a cylinder and stretch it as far as possible without tearing the dough. From this “snake,” cut into small pieces, possibly of the same weight. My dough, for example, weighed exactly 730 grams, and I made 8 small brioches weighing 65 grams each and two smaller ones weighing 40 grams each. You can, of course, make them larger or smaller for a buffet.
Each piece should be rolled on itself to form a small cylinder that we will place on a baking tray with parchment paper, spacing them a finger or a little more apart. Cover them and let them double (3-5 hours) at room temperature, away from drafts or air blows.
When they are nice and swollen, put the tray in the oven (it does not need to be preheated) at mid-height and turn it on at 320°F, letting them bake for about 20-25 minutes. They are ready when they are golden. If the surface is too light for your taste, you can place the brioches under the grill for 60 seconds, rotating the tray from time to time, making sure they color but do not burn on the surface.
Remove them from the oven immediately to prevent the residual heat from drying them out. Let them cool well and enjoy them plain or filled with creams of our taste.
For the filling (which can be prepared even the day before and kept in the fridge).
In a bowl, mix the spreadable cheese, lemon or orange zest, and sugar well.
Whip our well-chilled cream from the fridge with beaters. As soon as the beaters begin to “write” in the cream, add the cheese mixture and continue whipping until you obtain a fluffy and firm cream (about another minute). Cover and store in the fridge until ready to use. Wash the strawberries, remove the stems and cut them into cubes. Mix them naturally with the cheese and cream mixture, combine everything, and fill our brioches with sourdough starter without lactose or eggs.
