Brioche Moulds

Brioche mould. Francine Mastini / flickr / 2010 / CC BY 2.0

Brioche moulds are special moulds in which the breads named “brioche” are made.

You can make brioche without these moulds, but you won’t get the classic “brioche à tête” form.

They are round, with fluted, sloping edges, and wider at their top than at the bottom.

Materials

They are made of metal, glass, silicone or porcelain. Metal versions come in tinned steel or non-stick coated metal. They are often sold in sets.

The tinned steel ones are not dishwasher-safe. Before storing tinned steel ones after use, hand-wash, dry thoroughly, lightly oil the mould, place in plastic bags, seal and store.

Typical sizes

Some typical sizes (width refers to width at the top):

• 15 cm (6 inches), holds 400 ml (1 3/4 cups) in volume;
• 18 cm (7 inches), holds 700 ml (3 cups) in volume;
• 20 cm (8 inches), holds 1.1 litres (4 3/4 cups) in volume;
• 19 cm (7 1/2 inches) at the top, 9 cm (3 1/2 inches) at the bottom, holds 1.4 litres (6 cups) in volume;
• mini ones: 6 cm (2 1/2 inches);  7 1/2 cm (3 inches); 10 cm (4 inches).

Substitutes

Muffin tins, tartlet pans, ramekins, coffee tins. You won’t get the fluted, sloping sides, but you’ll get the general shape and you can still form the top-knot on top.

History

Brioche moulds appear to have come on the scene around the start of the 1900s. In her book, Vintage Kitchenalia, Emma Kay notes that “one of the more collectible of the range of small cake tins is the brioche mould of the early 1900s.” ^[1]Kay, Emma. Vintage Kitchenalia. Gloucestershire, England: Amberley Publishing. 2017. Google Ebook edition.