Brioche Chinois

This is a traditional pastry of Alsace and neighbouring German-speaking regions, where it is called Schneckekueche in Alsatian and Schneckenkuchen in German — 'snail cake' — for its coiled spirals. It developed from the rich enriched-dough baking of that border country. The French name chinois, 'Chinese', is unexplained and carries two stories: the food historian Pierre Rézeau records an 1895 recipe that flavoured it with chinois, the small bitter Seville oranges of the bigarade tree, while a local anecdote tells of a baker's apprentice who, struggling to say Schneckenkuchen, declared it 'all Chinese to me'. Neither account is confirmed, and the name is best given as folklore rather than fact.

Each spiral pulls away soft and feathery, the brioche tender and faintly sweet, the coiled seam packed with cool, smooth vanilla cream and chocolate chips. Because the coils bake pressed together, the sides stay pale and pillowy while only the top takes a glaze and light colour. It is gentler and more custardy than a laminated pastry — no shatter, just soft tear — and richest the day it is baked.

The brioche is an enriched yeast dough; the egg yolks' lecithin emulsifies a heavy load of butter so the crumb bakes tender, and a long cold proof firms the dough for rolling. The crème pâtissière — milk set with egg yolk and starch, cooked until it gels — is stiff enough to stay put inside the coil through the oven. Spreading the cream, rolling the sheet and slicing it exposes the spiral; packing the slices cut-side-up in a tin makes them rise into and against each other, fusing into one pull-apart loaf as the yeast lifts the dough and the custard sets.