Brioche is a light but rich French bread or cake made with a yeast dough enriched with eggs, milk, and butter. The crust is glazed before baking and turns a deep golden brown. The crumb is delicate and pale yellow in colour. In Paris, it is traditionally baked in a fluted tin with a smaller ball of dough placed on top, either as buns or as one large loaf, but other shapes and preparations are traditional in different parts of France. It is also served in ring-shaped and hexagonal loaves. One common variation is to add pralines to the bread.

The word brioche first appeared in print in 1404, and this bread is believed to have sprung from a traditional Norman recipe. It is often served as a pastry or as the basis of a dessert, with many local variations in added ingredients, fillings and toppings. It is also used with savoury preparations, particularly with foie gras, and is used in some meat dishes.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his 1783 autobiography Confessions, relates that "a great princess" is said to have advised, with regard to starving peasants, "S’ils n’ont plus de pain, qu’ils mangent de la brioche", commonly translated as "If they have no bread, let them eat cake". This saying is commonly misattributed to Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI; it has been speculated that he was actually referring to Maria Theresa of Spain, the wife of Louis XIV, or various other aristocrats.

Braided brioche (brioche tressée) is similar to challah, a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish braided bread eaten on special religious occasions.

Etymology
The word comes from Old French, from broyer, brier, to knead, of Germanic origin (bhreg).

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