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Brioche

Source of Recipe

From "The King Arthur Baker's Companion" by King Arthur Baking Co.


Recipe Introduction

"Brioche is a yeast bread that's so rich it can be eaten pleasurably with absolutely no adornment at all. Which isn't to say that orange marmalade or peach jam or butter wouldn't all be welcome additions. Brioche can be shaped in the traditional tête shape—a fluted round with a jaunty top-knot—but it can also be made into sandwich loaves or shaped into balls and laid side by side to make a ring. You can even pile it into a loaf pan to make a kind of French monkey bread. However, you shape it, brioche is a versatile loaf that can easily be sliced and served plain or toasted with jam or turned into French toast. With all its butter, this is a difficult dough to develop by hand and we don't suggest trying it. A stand mixer or bread machine set to the dough cycle are ideal for the task; if you have access to either one, don't hesitate to tackle this recipe. It's only a tad more challenging than any other yeast bread recipe, and the results are out of this world."

List of Ingredients

Dough:
â—¦ 2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
â—¦ ¼ cup water, cool (about 70° F)
â—¦ 4 large eggs
â—¦ 2 tablespoons sugar
â—¦ ¾ teaspoon salt
â—¦ 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature, 65° F to 68° F

Egg wash:
â—¦ 1 large egg
â—¦ 1 tablespoon cold water


Recipe

To make the dough: Place 1 ½ cups of the flour, the yeast, water, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer or the bucket of your bread machine set to dough mode. Beat at medium speed (or knead in the bread machine) until smooth. Cover the mixture and let it sit for 45 minutes. It will develop some bubbles, but not change very much due to the thinness of the batter. The yeast, however, is getting a jumpstart.

Add the remaining 1 ¼ cups of flour, sugar, and salt. Beat for 8 to 10 minutes (switch to a dough hook if you're using a mixer), or knead in the bread machine, until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and becomes shiny and elastic. With the mixer or bread machine running, add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, letting the butter become absorbed before adding the next chunk. Repeat until all of the butter is added.

Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 hour. It'll be very soft at this point and should have grown by about one-third. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over several times. (Use a bench knife to scrape up any bits that stick to the table.) Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl, and refrigerate it for a minimum of 4 hours and up to about 16 hours. The dough will firm up considerably.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and form it into a round loaf. Work quickly, because as the dough warms it becomes very sticky. Place it in a 9-inch brioche pan. (We've chosen not to make the top-knotted brioche here; it's a fair trick to get the knob to stay centered throughout the rising and baking process, and as we don't like the look of tipsy brioches, we usually just form it into a plain round.) Allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours, until it's an inch above the edge of the pan and looks puffy. Preheat the oven to 375° F.

To make the egg wash: Beat the egg and water and brush all exposed surfaces with the egg wash. Cut four slashes into the top of the loaf. Bake the brioche for 40 to 50 minutes, until its internal temperature reads 190° F on a digital thermometer and it's golden brown. For brioche with lighter crust, tent it with aluminum foil after 20 minutes of baking. Remove the brioche from the oven and cool it in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn it out of the pan and cool it completely on a rack. Serve the brioche when it's completely cool.

Makes one 9-inch round loaf