How to Use No-Knead Brioche Dough to Make a Delicious Raspberry Crumble Cake

Brioche is one of the most versatile doughs ever. You can make pretty much anything out of it. And now that we know how to make no-knead brioche, it has also become a much easier process.

This recipe has been adapted from Jeffrey Hamelman’s ‘Bread: A baker’s book of techniques and recipes’ the 2^nd edition. A great book for any breadmaking enthusiast.

Unlike my previous no-knead brioche dough recipe, this one has double the ingredients, but the cake only requires half of the dough. I decided to make a larger batch and use the other half for another project. You can make half the recipe if you like. The process will be pretty much identical. The only difference is that instead of dividing the dough after refrigerating it following the third fold, you simply give it another fold (#4).

You can use other berries and fruits just make sure they’re not too juicy as the excess liquid may prevent the whole thing from baking properly.

This cake fits perfectly in a 24cm (9.5in) cake ring.

You can use this dough for any of my previous brioche recipes.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

500g (1.1lb) white bread flour

300g (10.6oz) egg, around 6 medium eggs

12g (0.42oz) salt

8g (0.28oz) instant dry yeast or 9.6g (0.33oz) active dry yeast or 24g (0.85oz) fresh yeast

60g (2.1oz) sugar

200g (7oz) soft butter

For the cream cheese layer –

60g cream cheese (2.1oz)

20g (0.7oz) sugar

1 medium egg (around 50g or 1.75oz)

5g (0.17oz) vanilla paste

30g (1oz) flour

Zest of 1 lemon

For the crumble –

100g (3.5oz) flour

50g (1.75oz) sugar

50g (1.75oz) butter

250g (8.8oz) berries or fruits.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the amount of egg. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the egg for 10 minutes before adding the flour or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the eggs, yeast, salt, and sugar. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Add 8 tablespoons of the flour and whisk until smooth. This will make it easier to incorporate the softened butter.
2. Add the butter and whisk until smooth.
3. Add the remaining flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F).
4. Rest the dough for 20 minutes.
5. Fold #1.
6. Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.
7. Fold #2.
8. Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.
9. Fold #3.
10. Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.
11. Divide the dough in two equal pieces.
12. Cold ferment the dough balls for 24 hours.
13. Make the streusel topping by mixing the flour and sugar, and then crumbling in the butter. Make the cream cheese mix by combining all the ingredients and mixing until smooth.
14. Roll the dough out to a flat disc slightly wider than the cake ring.
15. Place it on a non-stick paper lined tray. Cover and final proof for 2 hours or until it has puffed up and become delicate to the touch. During the final hour of fermentation pre-heat the oven to 180C (355F) fan on or 200C (390F) fan off.
16. Top the dough with the cream cheese layer followed by the berries and finish with the crumble.
17. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes.
18. Leave to set for 15 minutes before removing it from the cake ring.

Cool down and enjoy with a nice coffee!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.