4.08.2010

Dulce de Leche Brioche

I don't bake a lot of bread these days, but a while back I noticed a brioche recipe on Tartelette's blog; Dulce de Leche Brioche to be exact and I was a goner. As far as I'm concerned, dulce de leche is food fit for the Gods. I couldn't resist, this brioche was made just for me! Tartelette's recipe is easy to follow and, after several risings, I refrigerated it for one hour as instructed. I divided it in half and then the fun began.

When you live in Florida, you have to deal with high heat and humidity and I think that may have had a lot to do with the problem I had. I made these last fall and let me tell you, it's HOT here in September. And for this recipe, you have to work really quickly while the dough is still cold. Something I didn't realize when I started the first batch, though Tartelette warned it would be messy. A gross understatement. Anyway- I started to roll out the first batch, carefully covered it with cream cheese and dulce de leche-
everything looked good (messy as promised); I rolled it up. Fine. The hard part turned out to be cutting it in 12 pieces. Note to self: refrigerate the dough before cutting. By this time the dough was so soft it practically fell apart. I pushed them together as best I could and decided this would be the batch I put in muffin tins to cook the next morning. Into the refrigerator they went.

The instructions said to bake right out of the refrigerator which I did. WRONG. They did not rise sufficiently during the night and should have been allowed to rise again out on the counter. The rolls were absolutely delicious, but didn't rise like rolls, they looked like muffins. And the dulce de leche bakes to the bottom...though this may not entirely be a bad thing. (yum)





The dough was light and perfect- quite a surprise actually, considering how badly I screwed it up. But I wanted picture perfect as well. Taste-wise, these were a winner (I guess the picture's not bad either now that I look at it again) and I actually preferred these to the successful batch that came later!

I decided to freeze the second half just to see how that worked out. So, having learned my lesson about cold dough in a hot climate, I did the second batch much faster, rolled it up (although dulce de leche still oozed out, just not as much), then I stuck the roll in the freezer for about 10 minutes. That made it easier to slice them. I put the sliced rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, covered them with tin foil and quickly popped them in the freezer.



A few days later, I placed the frozen rolls in a buttered glass baking dish, thawed them overnight in the fridge and in the morning, put them out on the counter to rise. As you can see, the dulce de leche seeps out all over the bottom of the baking dish. I'm thinking perhaps this is supposed to happen. Anyway, this batch rose nicely after a couple hours.
 


I baked them for 20 minutes. They turned out light and delicious and everyone loved them but there wasn't a stong dulce de leche flavor. (I ended up eating the bottom of the rolls first.) It was sure fun to scrape the remains in the baking dish- gooey, caramely leftovers. And I got my pretty picture too.


Note: If you can't find dulce de leche in your market or prefer to make it yourself there are several recipes online, or use the recipe in one of my older posts.

Dulce de Leche Brioche
Tartelette, March 2007 post




Ingredients:
1/3 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1/3 cup warm milk (105°F to 115°F)
2 envelopes dry yeast
3-3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, each stick cut into 4 pieces, room temperature
1 egg, beaten to blend with 1 tablespoon water (for glaze)
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 can dulce de leche

Method:

Place 1/3 cup warm water, warm milk, and yeast in bowl of standing heavy-duty mixer; stir until yeast dissolves. Fit mixer with dough hook. Add flour and salt to bowl; mix on low speed just until flour is moistened, about 10 seconds. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl.


Beat in 3 eggs on low speed, then add sugar. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding next (dough will be soft and batter-like). Increase speed to medium-high and beat until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 7 minutes.


Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour.


Lift up dough around edges and allow dough to fall and deflate in bowl.
Cover bowl with plastic and chill until dough stops rising, lifting up dough around edges and allowing dough to fall and deflate in bowl every 30 minutes, about 2 hours total. Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate an hour.
Take the dough out of the fridge and divide in half.

For the buns: roll out the dough to a 14x9 inch rectangle. Spread 1/3 cup softened cream cheese on top, leaving a 1 inch border. Spread the dulce de leche on top of the cream cheese; it's messy but it will spread. Roll into a log and cut into 12 pieces. (Please read my blog above regarding the problems I had.) Place them in a buttered 9 inch round pan, cover and refrigerate until the next morning. The dough will rise slowly overnight. Repeat with the second half of dough.


In the morning, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

More notes from me: To freeze, place cut rolls on parchment, cover with foil and freeze. To bake: place the frozen rolls in a large buttered baking dish or cake pans and thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring out in the morning and let rise for a couple hours. Bake as directed.


For a printable recipe click HERE.

80 comments:

  1. I have never had this but in looks absolutely wonderful Barbara! I am growing to like baking again and this looks fun.

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  2. Oh my goodness these sound divine. I bet they are so good and rich they don't even need any sort of topping. You are right dulce de leche is food fit for the Gods.

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  3. Barbara>you are such a great story teller!!! I love the pushing and pulling of a recipe that you capture so perfectly. Especially with baking... don't you ever wonder what they were thinking when they wrote something or did they really try this???? I also felt a shared camaraderie of stubbornness about making things right when they go wrong... I go nuts if I don't get it right eventually...although I still have a few ringers( that I am positive no one really tried to make before!) They both looked great, btw. On your urging I will try working with Dulce de Leche.

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  4. These look delicious! Beautiful color!

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  5. I've never tried anything dulce de leche but these brioche sound wonderful (with your comments respected). The flakiness of that single roll make them very tempting!

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  6. Your brioche looks absolutely fantastic! Dulce de leche in brioche has to be divine!

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  7. Dulce de Leche and brioche have got to be a match made in heaven! I would have like to be there when that baby was baking in the oven (smelling that!)

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  8. Brioche is the food of gods, so wonderful. This sounds like an amazing recipe worth perfecting!

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  9. I couldn't believe it when I saw the title of this post - could it GET any better than this? Dulce de luche is so yummy, especially combined with light and fluffy brioche!

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  10. Oh good! I just made a batch of dulce de leche yesterday. Have to give it a try! Have a great weekend, Barbara.
    Regards, Kristy

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  11. Your brioche rolls look so perfectly fluffy! And just the thought of warm dulce de leche on the bottom...I wish I had these in front of me right now. A great idea, thanks for sharing with us!

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  12. Oh my goodness, these look absolutely stunning. Fluffy, sweet, carby goodness. I must have one daaaaaaahling.These little rolls are a things of beauty.
    Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!
    *kisses* HH

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  13. pillows! you made edible pillows! i'm so glad the fickle climate didn't screw things up too badly. in fact, dulce de leche pooled and crusted on the bottom sounds pretty delightful to me! luscious.

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  14. I agree with lostpastremembered. You are a great story teller Barbara. I'm not a baker but my mother way. Guess I just didn't pay attention as a child. Very enjoyable post.
    Sam

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  15. oh my these look good Barbara! I havent been baking bread lately too...I think I shd be. I'll book mark this for sure....i love the way it looks so buttery even without butter.:)

    oh n do drop by Barbara..ive a giveaway for North American readers only so I thought I'd let all my North American friends know.Its very pretty!:)

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  16. Those fluffy brioches look ever so tempting! A wonderful treat!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  17. Now those are seriously good-lookin'!!! May even be worth facing down my yeast phobia...

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  18. Oh my. I have everything I need to make a lavish treat for our shed crew tomorrow morning...

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  19. Barbara, I love to make bread and pastry, but, like you, I haven't made bread in quite some time. This has to be wonderful! What you said about it not rising enough when you first made it, reminded me of the best coffee cake I ever made; one that fell to about two inches high! We lived in Houston for six years, so I well understand the problem you have with the humidity, too.
    I have alot to do today and your blog is keeping me from it! I wish I had the time to read every story, and plan to when I can sit back luxuriously and enjoy. I especially like the ones about St. Lucia and Nantucket (I've been to Cape Cod years ago), and your family. I wish these were printed out in a book.
    Happy Day, Laaa-ra's Mom

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  20. Two of my favorites, brioche and dulce de leche, together! Wonderful! I can't wait to try this!

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  21. Bryan: It was fun; I hadn't baked bread in ages.

    msmeanie: You're right...they don't need butter or anything!

    Deana: Sometimes our mistakes taste better than the original!

    Julie: Thanks!

    Susan: Well worth the effort, too!

    Carol: I love dulce de leche! Could eat it all by itself!

    Joumana: I could barely wait they smelled so good!

    Kim: Tartelette doesn't make too many mistakes, so I think it was me!

    Joanne: No, it doesn't get any better than this! YUM.

    Kristy: Oh! Lucky you!

    Lucie: Definitely, the bottoms tasted better than the tops!

    Hana: Trust me when I say....they were divine!

    Grace: Yes, the gooey leftovers were as good as the rolls!

    Sam: Anyone who can follow directions can bake bread. Look at the mistakes I made and it still came out OK.

    Zurin: I don't know why I don't bake bread more often. It's so much better than buying at a bakery!

    Rosa: They were very tempting! I ate ALL the muffins!

    TKW: A little labor intensive, but do them on a rainy day.

    Chan: Can I come help??

    Rebecca: Good word. Heavenly. They were.

    Carolyn: I'm so glad you visited all my sites. I don't keep up the travel site anymore...wanted to do all our favorite cities, but it takes a long time and frequent visits as restaurants etc. change so quickly. And yes, It's funny how often our mistakes taste so much better than the original recipe!

    Natasha: Mine too!

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  22. Looked and sounded great!

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  23. The weekend is coming up and I wish i had this brioche to look forward to!
    I have added a few lines explaining sumac in my post; thanks to you! It is a powder from a bush, reddish in color and tastes lemony; it grows all over North America and native americans used it in their smoking pipes! in the midlle east, we just use it in our food!

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  24. Dulce de leche...even the words are magical.

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  25. this looks and sounds just gorgeous. brioche is wonderful!

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  26. i love dulce de leche..i bet these tasted heavenly

    sweetlife

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  27. BD: It was!

    Joumana: I imagine it is related to our poison sumac. Interesting it tastes lemony.

    Blonde Duck: It is magic all right!

    Teresa: Delicious!

    Sweetlife: Is anything better than that rich caramel flavor?

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  28. You know that I love dulce de leche, actually I am The #1 fan of this delicious dessert! Your recipe sounds delicious :)

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  29. This is amazing Barbara! I can only imagine on how delicious they were!
    Thanks for your comment on my Sponge Bob cake.
    Working with fondant is super easy. If you can work w/ Play-Dough you can use fondant!!!

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  30. When I saw dulche de leche and brioche together, I thought to myself "why didn't I think of that?!" brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  31. those buns look like a little bit of heaven....so light and delicous....wow

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  32. Absolutely delicious and lovely dear...

    Hullo Happy Sunshine pal, its GOrgeously spring ,blue skies and summer hues, we are so happy and with this happiness lets JOin the Party ,for dear CHaya 's BIRTHDAY.[10th april]..yeah its a suprise party for her....and she's ur pal too....
    and all u need to do is hop at the link below and leave her a birthday message and link any or all of ur deliciousness u wanna bring to the party.....looking foward to u ....at the party and CHaya ...is going to love having u over .......
    ANd if possible please send this message atleast to 5 of ur bloggin buddys , we so wanna make her day dont we....

    come to the party ....ur presence n love will make the difference.....

    to bring the joy of the gorgeously stunning Springtime right here http://brightmorningstarsfoodie.blogspot.com/2010/04/hugs-n-love-suprise-party-for-u-dear.html

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  33. I love the dulce de leche in the brioche-I would have never thought about that. Have a wonderful evening!

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  34. Why oh why do I not live next door to you? We'd be great friends and eat fabulous food. The brioche looks like it would melt in your mouth. Barbara you never disappoint. I hope your week has been a good one? I really liked your comment on my last post. How I'd love to see photos of your mod family home! Have a good weekend xx deb

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  35. I love the last picture of the roll on the plate. I just want to reach in and grab it!

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  36. Erica: Then I'm teh #2 fan!

    Leslie: I was never too great with Play-Doh either!

    Trissa: It's a great pairing!

    Chef Dennis: A little bit of heaven is right!

    Mia: So sweet of you!

    Nizrene: Thanks...it was fun to make.

    Deb: Our old house was a gem and I was able to go through it a couple years ago when someone was remodeling.

    Barbara: I did grab it!

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  37. wow! those look like perfection!

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  38. I would have never thought of the combo but it sure sounds delicious! Hmm.. I wonder what it would be like if you made them into sticky buns.. with a cinnamon roll filling and the dulce de leche in the bottom of the pan? I don't know if it would work but I am drooling at the thought.

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  39. Love DDL...anything. The muffins look good though but the brioche takes the bread, sorry cake!!!!!!!!

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  40. Oh my! These dulce leche brioche rolls look absolutely exquisite!!! I like your modified suggestions on the recipe. It looks so good.

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  41. SimplyLife: It's a lovely recipe!

    Cheri: Oh my! That sounds divine!

    Ozoz: Isn't DDL the best??

    Christine: Baking is often tricky in different climates of the world!

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  42. Oh my WORD that looks amazing. I LOVE bread. I love anything that looks like bread. I love love love this.

    Thank you!

    Blessings-
    Amanda

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  43. Oh! My daughter is absolutely a bread girl. She would FLIP for this! I must say, both batches look delicious. Love the golden "muffin" look of the first batch. I've never had dulce de leche, but I will soon.

    xoxo!

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  44. wow...this all looks so great...i was on a big bread baking kick in the fall following that group called "pinch my salt" that was baking a bread a week out of The Bread Bakers Apprentice by Peter Reinhart..actually i am looking at the book right now...it is still on my drainboard.have you seen it/have it? it is a wonderful book. i fell off the bread baking wagon after the holidays were over...but want to get back at it..actually, i have pizza dough rising in a bowl right now...

    good to see you at Farmhouse, Barbara....

    kary

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  45. OH GOODNESS THESE LOOK AMAZING!

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  46. Wow, this brioche looks amazing! Freshly baked bread is the best : )

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  47. These really look and sound wonderful. Thanks for the tips. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  48. Oh wow, how do you keep yourself from eating all of them? The smell alone while they are baking would have me waiting at the oven door with a fork!

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  49. What an adventure! They do look pretty, though, even if the dulce de leche needs doubling next time around and the first batch turned into muffins. I love baking breads and pastries, but with a small child and business I am working on, this kind of fun is often put on the back burner. My goal this week is to make something beautiful, just because I want to, not because I have the perfect purpose for said beauty. Art for arts sake, right (and perhaps for my waist, in this case)? (: We'll see how it goes.

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  50. Oh my, these rolls look delicious Barbara!I love the aroma of fresh baked bread- and I love to eat the finished product!

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  51. I need this right now, on a pretty plate at my side as I blog surf!

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  52. Once I get my new KA mixer, I'm going to bake this, they look yummy!

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  53. Wow, well done Barbara! I've made pastry in the heat and it's a real challenge. It looks so lovely, light and buttery in the photos too! :D

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  54. Oh wow, look at how lovely the dough looks! So light and fluffy! I want one.

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  55. This is my kind of food, I could inhale one of these!
    Scraping the baking tin for the brown caramelly bits would be heaven for me.
    ~Maggie~

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  56. Barbara, these look amazing. I love it that you told us about your struggle with the dough--that will help us avoid having the same problems.

    Thanks for posting this!

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  57. They do look picture perfect. Glad you persevered and let us in on the tricky bits! You know, I've heard so much about dulce de leche but because I only feel so-so about caramel type things, I haven't bothered to taste it. Sounds like I must remedy immediately :)

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  58. You can see how amazing the texture is in that picture. Hope I'll be getting something like this, this weekend.

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  59. Amanda: I have come to the conclusion that you like bread!

    Bella: I liked the muffins better too!

    Nancy: Thanks!

    Kary: Yes, I've seen that book. Do not own it though.

    Aimee: They were!

    Sasha: I agree, you can't beat it.

    Mary: As I said, it could have been the climate, but it wouldn't hurt to refrigerate the dough a bit no matter where you live.

    Bridgett: When I don't have family here, I give it away!

    Laura: That's the problem with breads like this: our waistlines!

    Lynda: The entire house smells divine.

    Heather: Too sticky for eating at the computer!

    Sonia: I hope you do. Let me know how it turns out.

    Lorraine: It was divine.

    Emily: They were very light and fluffy.

    Maggie: The scrapings were the best!

    Kate: Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

    Shaz: It was a disappointment not to taste the dulce de leche more in the rolls.

    Jessica: I think the BakeOff will be such fun. Can't wait to hear all about it!

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  60. Oh my Barbara..you make me want to bake!YUM

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  61. WOW! This looks so perfect!

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  62. Barbara your brioche look absolutely divine! really! I love brioches and ...with Dulce de leche. I love Dulce de leche, nice recipe, huggs, gloria

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  63. I'm a huge fan of dulce de leche and used to buy it in France aad have it for breakfast on white bread. Your brioche look amazing Barbara - who could possibly resist? I can only imagine how wonderful your house smelled while you were baking htem.

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  64. I'm speechless, I tell ya. Just plain lost for words. Heavenly, Barbara, simply heavenly...

    Perhaps, if I could have just one, I would sleep like a baby:)

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  65. I've been meaning to make brioche, and this recipe looks wonderful! I think I'll end up eating the bottoms first too! :)

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  66. Hi Barbara,

    Love brioche, but have never tried making it.
    Yours look so good and I would like to sit down and eat some right now.
    Thanks for sharing the recipe and would like to try this one day.

    have a wonderful week
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  67. Oh Barbara !!! This dulce de leche brioche looks heaven-like....and mind you, it is an Argentinian talking !!! ha ha

    It is a MUST do for me....thanks a lot for sharing !!!

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  68. Figtree: I don't bake bread very often either.

    Anncoo: They were excellent!

    Gloria: I knew you loved dulce de leche!

    Vanessa: It did...it smelled divine!

    Louise: I just love your blog! So many interesting things to celebrate!

    Faith: Let me know if you try it!

    Cristina: They were well worth the time and effort!

    Sophie: Ah yes, with a latte it would be delicious!

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  69. Hi Barbara, When I first saw the title of this post I thought I was seeing things, how could anything be better than this recipe!?? I would really enjoy this with my coffee for breakfast this morning!
    xoxo

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  70. Barbara, Even with all the trouble you had these look so good! Don't you just love the Tartlette? I would love to make her puff pastry.

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  71. I hope you had a good weekend!

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  72. These look so yummy! Now my stomach is rumbling :)

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  73. Oh! Barbara...this brioches sound and look delicious...very rich in flavor.

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  74. What a delicious brioche. I sure have a weakness for that rich, buttery bread. But combined with dulce de leche and I'm a goner. I hear you re: the heat and humidity. Here in sub-tropical Brisbane there are definitely times of the year where I can't bake certain things - unless the airconditioning is on throughout the house! Given your obstacles, this looks great!

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  75. Dulce de leche and cream cheese in bread? Oh, my heart be still. It looks like fluffy, soft perfection.

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  76. Oh, my, what buttery, flakey goodness you've got there. And with dulce de leche? Hands down winner!

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  77. Looks tasty to me but what do I know I'm a sucker for bread! :) Bet those rolls would make a mighty fine bread pudding.
    ~ingrid

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  78. I like it very much!

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