While everyone else is watching their diets, I've been stuffing my face with bread. Every week I want to try making a different loaf, which means every week, I'm eating an entire loaf of bread. This week I went a little crazy and made rye bread and brioche so I'm getting creative and using the brioche for something magical. Brioche is one of my favorite doughs that can be used for so many different recipes including these sweet brioche tarts and savory tarts. This time I'm doing a little something and using stale brioche to make bostock with blood orange marmalade. Brushed with grapefruit syrup and baked with pecan frangipane, this French pastry makes a delightful breakfast or dessert.
Bostock with Blood Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
Pecan cream
- 1 cup pecans toasted
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup butter cut into small chunks
Blood orange marmalade
- 2 cups blood orange segments
- 1 teaspoon blood orange zest
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
Grapefruit syrup
- ¼ cup grapefruit juice
- zest of 1 grapefruit
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Remaining ingredients
- 6 slices day-old brioche bread sliced ¾-inch thick
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- powdered sugar for finishing
Instructions
- Prepare the pecan cream. In a food processor, pulse together 1 cup pecans, ¾ cup sliced almonds, ½ cup sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt until the nuts are finely ground. Add 2 eggs and ½ cup butter cut into small chunks and puree until smooth. Chill the pecan cream for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Make the blood orange marmalade. Combine 2 cups of blood orange chunks with 1 teaspoon blood orange zest and ¾ cup sugar in a medium saucepot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened and syrupy, about 15-20 minutes. Cool.
- Combine ¼ cup grapefruit juice with the zest of 1 grapefruit, ¼ cup water, and ¼ cup sugar in a medium saucepot. Simmer over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until the sugar has melted and the liquid is like a glaze. Cool completely.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice brioche loaf into ¾ – 1 inch thick slices. Brush a generous amount of the grapefruit syrup onto each slice, making sure the syrup soaks through the bread. Spread ⅛-inch thick layer of blood orange marmalade and top with about ¼ cup of the pecan cream. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top. Bake the bostock for 15-20 minutes or until the nuts are golden brown.
- Dust powdered sugar on top and serve warm.
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
Traditionally, bostock is made from stale brioche, simple syrup, orange jam, and almond frangipane. I wanted to use the fruits currently in season so I decided to make grapefruit syrup, blood orange marmalade, and pecan cream.
You can certainly use store-bought brioche for this recipe. Since you need stale bread, there's no need to make a fresh homemade loaf. I do, however, strongly encourage you to make the other components. Luckily, all of the toppings can be made beforehand.
Start by making the pecan cream. You will need a food processor to pulse together pecans with almonds, sugar, and a touch of salt until finely ground. Add 2 eggs and cold butter, pureeing until the mixture is smooth. Chill the pecan cream for at least one hour or overnight.
Next, make the blood orange marmalade. Simmer blood orange chunks with sugar and blood orange zest until the fruit cooks down and the liquid thickens. Let the marmalade cool before using it.
Finally, cook the grapefruit syrup by simmering together water, sugar, grapefruit zest, and grapefruit juice. The sugar will melt, slightly thickening the liquid.
Now that all the toppings are ready, you can assemble the bostock. Slice the brioche into 1 inch thick slices and brush a liberal amount of grapefruit syrup on each slice. The bread is stale so you want the syrup to really soak through. Next, spread the blood orange marmalade followed by the pecan spread and finish with sliced almonds. Bake the bostock with blood orange marmalade for about 15-20 minutes or until the almonds turn golden brown.
Finish the bostock with powdered sugar and serve warm.
I'll be honest, this was my first time trying bostock so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I got was one amazing pastry. This was probably the best way to utilize my brioche bread because the end result was so so worth it! The combination of the pecans, almonds, blood orange, and grapefruit all work so well together. This may be my first bostock but it definitely won't be my last.
For more blood orange inspiration check out these balsamic blood orange braised short ribs!
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