…and I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down. Well, it does certainly feel a bit like that. The last couple of days I’ve been chilling out in Normandy. I literally roll out of bed and I’m on the beach which is absolutely amazing. Golden sand which goes great with the sunshine. The only thing is that it’s a bit windy to say the least.

It’s the first time I’ve been to Normandy and one of the specialities they have in the boulangeries here is Gâche vendéene which is like a brioche but with crème fraîche and orange flowerwater (some recipes include armagnac). Soft, almost pillow like texture. This goes down a treat for breakfast or afternoon tea. Making this was great fun. I love making any kind of bread. Kneading is a great way to vent frustration Although making/eating Biscuit poppets works just aswell.

Gâche vendéenne
This isn’t the traditional way of making a gâche but I find it the easier way.

125ml milk
110g butter
110g caster sugar
550g plain flour
2 tbsp of crème fraîche
2 eggs (+1 for eggwash)
25g fresh yeast
1 tbsp of vanilla essence
1 tbsp of orange flowerwater

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. Place the butter and milk in a saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Use some of the warm milk mixture to make fresh yeast into a paste. In a bowl mix together the flour and sugar. Create a well in the middle and add the vanilla, orange flowerwater, eggs, yeast paste and crème fraîche. While slowly mixing the ingredients pour in the warm milk/butter mixture. Depending on your flour you may want to add a little less of the milk. Combine the ingredients until you have a soft sticky dough. Turn out on a well floured surface and knead (the dough will be very sticky) until smooth.

Place in a bowl and leave to rise until double the size. My Aunt gave me tip on speeding up the rising time. Place bowl in a sink of warm water and this encourage the dough to rise faster.

Knock back and knead for another 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 3 parts and form into a round bread form. This is the traditional way or you can plait it like me. Leave to rise for another 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 160°c. If you’ve made your gâche into round forms, make a cross incision on the top. Eggwash the gâche and sprinkle with a little sugar (optional). For the round forms bake for 20 mins, for the large plait about 30mins. If the gâche starts browning too much, cover it with some aluminum foil.