I didn't quite do this recipe to spec. It's very simple. You're meant to cut the topknots off of a few individual brioches, hollow out the larger bottom parts, butter both, and then bake eggs in the bases. They're seasoned with a little tarragon and parsley. But there's not much to them other than that.

So how, with a recipe so simple, could I have deviated? Well... I still had about half of this lovely poppyseed bubble loaf left. And some of the centre bits were ever so slightly underbaked. So it occurred to me that this might be the ideal way to use them! Hollow them out, fill them with eggs, and bake them again. Which is great, except the "bubbles" are all a bit smaller and much more awkwardly and irregularly shaped than a traditional brioche. So the eggs didn't really fit neatly into them. I did my best. But it still got a bit messy.

Eggs Baked in Brioche

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 4 individual brioches
• 1-2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 4 large eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
• 4 tsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and butter 4 custard cups or ramekins.
2. Cut the topknots off the brioches and set them aside.
3. Hollow out the brioche bases and butter them.
4. Crack and egg into each brioche base.
5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, tarragon, and parsley.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, butter the topknots, wrap in foil, and set aside.
8. Once the eggs have been in the oven for 10 minutes, add the foil packet with the topknots and continue baking for another 10 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and serve.