Sugared Crème Fraîche Brioche Buns (Galettes Bressane)

Despite the recipe name, we are not making brioche here, a notoriously difficult bread. Rather, it’s a brioche-adjacent dough that is simpler and more manageable, but still bakes up with a feathery, rich-yet-light crumb—a perfect casing for lightly sweetened, vanilla-scented crème fraîche. This type of cream-filled brioche, known in French as galette bressane, typically is made as a full-size “tart.” However, the individually sized, highly stylized galette bressane offered at Le Pain de Joël Robuchon bakeries in Tokyo inspired Melbourne chef and cookbook author Brendan Liew to develop a simpler but equally delicious version. This is our adaptation of his recipe from “Tokyo Local.” When mixing the dough, resist the urge to add more flour; it should be sticky and lustrous. During rising, the flour will hydrate, and the dough will become more workable. When dividing the dough and shaping the buns, use minimal flour on the work surface along a gentle touch to prevent toughness in the finished breads. The buns are best served the day they are baked.