This dessert was directly inspired by my visits to the German Christmas markets – if you have never been or don’t understand the hype, imagine the Disneyland Ride “It’s a Small World”, but that’s what an entire square in Germany becomes during late November/all of December. It is a wonderful sight to behold, and one that I look forward to seeing whenever I can! Streusel mit Pudding(literally German for streusel and pudding) is a type of German pastry consisting of a sweetened bread with custard and streusel. It is texturally delightful, and highly reminiscent of French tropezienne. For my rendition of it, I wanted to make it using brioche, just to add a rich, sweet, and soft textured base. For the streusel, I wanted to be a little more clever, playing into caramelized notes, since streusel itself has a toasty flavor from the sugars in streusel dough being browned, and use hazelnut praline paste to give it a crunchier texture and a caramel-like taste. To guarantee that the brioche does not dry out, I also used a vanilla soak on the brioche, which guarantees a cake-like texture instead of a dryer bread-y one, and imparting the brioche with a dessert-y vanilla flavor! With the custard, I wanted to have fun, and use white chocolate in it, allowing for the pastry cream to have an almost ganache-like consistency. This was perfect for spreading thick, even layers of the custard inside of the brioche, as well as on top of it. Less traditional, but I also bruleed the top of the custard, just to add another fun textural contrast with a creme brulee-like exterior, which really invites the eater to cut into the cake and explore all of the different components inside! Overall, this is a relatively technical dessert, namely due to the nature of the brioche being a yeast-leavened dough, which takes a lot of time to prepare, but it is a recipe perfectly reminiscent of the holidays! One bite takes me back to the German Christmas markets.

For the brioche:
1/2 packet(3.5 grams) active-dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 stick unsalted butter
2 eggs
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, mix together the yeast, water, and sugar and allow that to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Mix into that the other ingredients, mixing everything together until a smooth dough forms. It should spring back when you press into it. Allow the dough to rest for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Place the dough into a lined 6-inch ring mold. Allow the doughs to rest at room temperature, covered, for another 2 hours, before getting ready to bake.

For the streusel:
4oz all-purpose flour
2oz unsalted butter
a pinch of salt
2oz hazelnut praline paste

In a food processor, puree the flour, butter, and salt until a fine, sandy dough forms. Mix into that the praline paste until it all comes together into a coarse, chunkier dough. Break apart the dough into thumbnail-sized pieces and spread onto a lined baking sheet, reserving 1/4 of the unbaked dough for the brioches, and baking the rest at 375 degrees F for 18 minutes. Allow the streusel to fully cool before attempting to use.

For the initial assembly:
1 egg white

Brush the tops of the rested brioches with a bit of beaten egg yolk and divide the reserved unbaked streusel dough on top of each brioche. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Allow the brioche to fully cool before attempting your next steps.

For the vanilla soak:
1/2 cup milk
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together. Keep cold for assembly.

For the vanilla custard:
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
3 egg yolks
3 tbsp cornstarch
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, heat up the milk and white chocolate on low until the chocolate is fully melted into the milk. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt. Pour half of the white chocolate milk into the egg yolks while whisking, then pour that back into the same pot with the remainder of the white chocolate milk. Whisk the contents of that pot on medium heat until it forms a thick custard, with a similar texture to whipped cream. Take off heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla. Pass the custard through a strainer and store it in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, until cold to the touch.

For final assembly:
Confectioner’s sugar

Start by cutting the brioche in half width-wise. Generously soak the brioche with the vanilla milk. Layer about half of your custard onto one of the halves, and sprinkle on about half of the baked streusel. Place on top of that the other half of the brioche and pipe onto that the remaining custard, flattening off the top using an offset spatula. Press into the sides the remaining streusel. Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar, and optionally, gently brulee the sugar on top of the brioche using a blowtorch until the sugar on top of the custard begins to caramelize.