Christmas Brioche Bread with Salmon and Avocado Mousse
This Christmas brioche bread is perfect to prepare from Christmas to New Year’s Eve (but I make it all year round, it’s an evergreen), a joker idea that’s different from the usual, impressive, and elegant, resolving the annual dilemma of what to prepare as a Christmas appetizer.
The Christmas brioche bread is an easy, unusual, and flavorful Christmas appetizer with salmon that always receives a great success among my guests, and indeed, it has become, by popular demand, my go-to dish for the Christmas menu every year.
This Christmas brioche bread is perfect to astonish your guests: as an appetizer, for a Christmas brunch, or also as a scenic centerpiece for a Christmas aperitif.
My brioche dough recipe is foolproof and tested, resulting in a very soft and tall brioche dough, a perfect dough that can be filled in many ways, even in a sweet version, so I recommend saving this perfect brioche recipe, which rises wonderfully, as you can see from the photos below.
This soft brioche bread is filled with a light, creamy, and delicate avocado and ricotta mousse. Don’t miss this precious recipe!
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Christmas
Ingredients for the Christmas Brioche Bread with Salmon:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (I use Caputo Classica Azzurra)
- 1 cup whole milk (lukewarm)
- 7 tbsps butter (melted in a double boiler)
- 5 egg yolks
- 2 tbsps granulated sugar
- 0.5 oz fresh yeast
- 1 lemon zest (grated)
- 1.5 tsps fine salt
- 8 oz avocado (already peeled and pitted)
- 3.5 oz cow ricotta
- 5 oz smoked salmon
- 3.5 oz emmental cheese (grated into threads)
- 1.5 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tsps lemon juice
- 0.5 tsp fine salt
- to taste black peppercorns (ground)
- to taste arugula
- to taste cherry tomatoes
- to taste green olives (to garnish the surface)
Tools for the Christmas Brioche Bread with Salmon
- Food Processor electric chopper and vegetable slicer (Kenwood MultiPro Go)
- Stand Mixer Kenwood 1200W power and double bowl
- Bundt Pan nonstick Nordic Ware, 10 inches in diameter
Steps for the Christmas Brioche Bread with Salmon
Dissolve the yeast in warm milk, add sugar and flour, the 5 egg yolks, the grated lemon, knead using the paddle attachment of the stand mixer for 10 minutes, then add the melted butter (little by little) and finally, the salt (do not add it at the beginning, otherwise it interferes with the yeast).
Knead for about 15 minutes (in total, max 30 minutes) with the paddle, then replace it with the dough hook and work for another 5 minutes to knead well, the dough must come away from the sides in one piece.
Let the dough rise directly in a buttered and floured Bundt pan of about 9.5 inches (I use buttered hands to help) until it doubles (about an hour and a half).
After the indicated rising time, a second rise is not necessary (it’s an easy dough) so put the pan directly into the oven and bake it in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 30 min.
Remove the brioche from the oven and let it cool completely.
Blend the cleaned avocado, ricotta, grated lemon, salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (about 15 ml) in a food processor.
Grate the Emmental into threads, halve the cherry tomatoes and season them with a little oil and salt, also season the arugula with a little oil and salt.
The cherry tomatoes and arugula are optional.
With a sharp knife, cut the brioche bread in half and fill the bottom layer, spreading well with the ricotta mousse
Garnish the avocado mousse with arugula, cheese, and seasoned cherry tomatoes.
Cover it all with the other upper half of the brioche bread.
Decorate the surface of the brioche bread with halved cherry tomatoes, thin rolled salmon slices, and green olives, but with creativity, you can also opt for other solutions, e.g., you can also add walnuts.
Serve the salmon brioche bread at room temperature, sliced.
Notes and Tips for the Christmas Brioche Bread with Salmon
You can easily make the brioche bread the day before (covered with plastic wrap) and keep it at room temperature to fill it the next day.
If you decide to fill it, after filling it, it’s good to store it in the fridge and the next day, take it out of the refrigerator and let it return to room temperature for at least 50 minutes before serving!
Shopping Tips!!!
I find the compact Kenwood chopper very handy, a powerful (650 W) electric vegetable slicer that slices and grates directly onto the plate in just a few minutes.
To work the dough effortlessly, I use the Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker stand mixer, with dual bowl (5L and 3.5L) and a powerful 1200 W, integrated scale.
To make this recipe, I used the wonderful Nordic Ware nonstick Bundt pan.
You can purchase all the items I recommend here above, on Amazon, at a great price, just click directly on the respective links.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is Brioche Bread?
Brioche Bread comes from the French “pain brioché“, and it refers to a soft and buttery bread, sweet or savory, very versatile.
It’s a layered bread that resembles bread and replaces it for making quick sandwiches and stuffed tramezzini, it can be filled in various ways.How to store Brioche Bread?
If Brioche Bread is not filled, it keeps at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap for about 3 days.
However, if the brioche bread is filled, it should be refrigerated, well-wrapped with plastic wrap, for about 2 days.
