Eggs in brioche nests

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 6 pieces, you will need:

• 1 360 g Brioche dough
• 2 1 beaten egg
• 3 90 g cheese
• 4 6 eggs
• 5 1 teaspoon chives
• 6 salt
• 7 pepper
• Total weight: 757 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
2 hours 20 min.	20 min.	57 min.	3 hours 37 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Prapare 360 g Brioche dough without any sugar. You will notice that the dough is whiter than the sweet version. Weigh out into 2 oz (60 g) portions and shape into balls. Arrange these on a baking sheet, then cover with a plastic sheet. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2	After this resting time, flatten the balls out, then reshape into balls and put into small brioche moulds or tins.
3	Glaze the tops of the brioches with beaten egg using a brush.
4	Leave to rest in a warm place for 2 hours.
5	After this resting time, brush with beaten egg again. Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C).
6	Bake for about 25 minutes, but check to see if they are cooked after 20 minutes. Leave the brioches to cool in their tins and turn out when cold. Do not turn the oven off; turn it up to 390°F (200°C). You will notice that without sugar the brioches do not brown as easily.
7	Slice off the top of each brioche with a serrated knife.
8	Cut around the inside of the brioche with the same knife.
9	Scoop out the centre with a spoon.
10	Fill the centre of each brioche with shavings of cheese (a delicious Laguiole here).
11	Pour an egg white into each brioche.
12	Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes...
13	...until the egg white is completely set. Salt and pepper the top of the egg white.
14	Carefully place an egg yolk on top of each white and put back in the oven for 2 minutes. The yolk does not need to cook, just heat through.
15	Just before serving piping hot, scatter a few chopped chives over.

Remarks

You can buy the brioches ready made from the baker, but they are likely to be sweet, so this is not a good idea unless you enjoy sweet-savoury combinations.
Use a cheese with plenty of character and enough flavour to contrast with the blander egg and brioche (I love using Comté, Laguiole or Reblochon for this).

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