Gearing up for the Brioche Wars

I decided I did not have the right tools to mount my second assault. Not that it wouldn't change the outcome much, but having shiny new brioche pans does boost the confidence a bit, and they look so neat in the oven. So my first stop was at a local kitchen specialty store I recently discovered.
If you are not from San Diego, don't fret, they have an active online presence at http://great-news.com/. Name of the store is "Great News!", a good omen. Once inside, my shopping cart suddenly started piling up with all kind of things I always wanted but never dared to buy. I am now the proud owner of a madeleine pan, and I almost got a set of individual tartlet pans. Some silicon cake molds looked really cool, but I resisted. The back of the store offers cooking classes with a full kitchen. I am not sure whether the kitchen is for the instructor, a la Martha, or students can use it as well. I signed up for their Newsletter, I'll take a peek at their class schedule, maybe something will pick my interest.
With my new brioche pans in hand I did another brioche try. Got a nice shape. I added some wheat gluten too to up the chewiness. But I had the darnest time making the dough rise. I turned quite chilly suddenly in San Diego. I ended up putting the dough on top of the dryer while doing laundry ! It helped a bit but not enough.
My next step is hunting down some tricks to make the crust so light and brown. Mine turns too hard for my taste. Stay tuned.