Bostock is an almond pastry from Normandy, France using high quality, but day-old thick slices of brioche bread. If you’ve never heard of it, think of it as a cross between French toast and an almond croissant (Fun fact: Did you know that to make almond croissants bakers use day old croissants? Waste not, want not!).
To make Bostock, a thick slab of brioche bread is flavored with a luscious spread of almond cream, a flavored simple syrup, a thin coating of jam, and a generous sprinkling of slivered almonds before baking. Delicious for breakfast, brunch, or with afternoon tea or coffee, Bostock keeps well for several days in an airtight container.
Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):
My small garden is now fully planted with Tropea red onions, leeks, zucchini, sweet long-horn and habanero peppers, butternut squash, and basil. Anything else doesn’t do well in our heavy clay-based soil. I’m trying an experiment this year — growing cherry tomatoes from seed in a large container in our sunny bathroom. Tomatoes grow very well in clay soil, but the stink bugs come and infect and devour them before we can so I’ve given up on them outside in the ground. Wish me luck on the bathroom tomatoes (I suppose “potty tomatoes” doesn’t have a nice ring to it, does it?).
Speaking of cherries, as usual, the birds got all but a tiny handful of our sweet cherries from 9 trees. They are too generous leaving us the pits each morning on our balconey! Our amarena (sour) cherries, on the other hand, are going gangbusters. The birds don’t seem to like them. We’ve harvested a number of bowlfuls and are making cherry liquor, amaro (another type of liquor), jam, and a friend suggested trying my hand at a sour cherry upside down cake. Peaches are also doing well this year. Often ants will burrow into them so this year we’ll try double sided tape on the main branches to deter them. Insects…. whatchagonnado?!
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Ingredients
- 5 extra thick slices brioche (about 3/4-inch, or 2.5 cm each)
- 2 cups (226 grams) blanched or natural almond flour (you can very finely grind the same amount of almonds if you do not have pre-made almond flour)
- 12 Tablespoons (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 + 1/2 cup (300 grams) granulated sugar, divided
- 1/4 cup (32 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) dark rum
- 1 Tablespoon jam for each slice of bread (most popular are apricot, orange marmalade or seedless raspberry)
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher or fine sea salt (do not use iodized table salt)
- 1/2 cup (about 120 ml) water
- Simple syrup flavor choices: Choose one of the following, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water, 1 Tablespoon rum, orange liquor or orange juice
Directions
1. Make the simple syrup by combining 1/2 cup of the sugar, water and flavoring of your choice in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, stir and bring the liquid to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside
2. Make the almond cream by creaming the butter and remaining 1 cup sugar in a handheld or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the almond flour, all-purpose flour, eggs, rum, almond extract, and salt and beat it on medium speed for about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed
3. TIP: Whether you are making whole or half slices of Bostock, keep the bread slices whole until you’ve assembled them with the syrup, jam, almond cream and slivered almonds. If you choose to slice them in half, doing so once they are already assembled is much easier and less messy
4. Brush each whole slice of brioche on BOTH sides with simple syrup. Then on only ONE side of each slice, evenly spread 1 Tablespoon of jam. Next, either with an offset spatula or using a piping bag with a simple tip, spread or pipe the almond cream on top of the jam, followed by a sprinkle of slivered almonds. Place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat and bake at 350F/180C for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool slightly to set before eating. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Once fully cooled, these will stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for 3 days
Greg Nelson Cooks 