Monday 22 February 2016

Brioche

I'd love to find a quick way to make brioche...this recipe is amazing, but it does take forever to make. I started it on the Friday night, and then did the second prove and bake on Saturday morning, but it took so long that I missed the decent weather, and got a soaking once I went out for my ride... On the plus side, I had fresh brioche to look forward to once I got home! This is much better than commercial brioche, which is normally way too sweet...with this the best thing you can do is toast it, and eat it by itself, as it's already really buttery...

I added orange zest, something I've not done before...you could smell it, but the taste didn't really come through.

Brioche Recipe

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white flour
  • 7g salt
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 10g instant yeast
  • 140ml warm, full fat milk
  • 5 eggs
  • 250g softened, unsalted butter

1) Add all the ingredients but the butter to a stand mixer with the dough hook attached

2) Mix until a dough is formed (it will be quite wet, with all the liquid and eggs)...this will take 4-5 minutes.

3) Add the butter bit at a time (I normally chop it into 8 bits), making sure that each bit is mixed in before adding the next.

4) Continue to mix until everything looks smooth and consistent

5) Scrape the mixture into a bowl, cover with clingfilm, and place in the fridge overnight

6) Next morning, take the dough, and on a slightly floured surface gently knock the air out

7) Split the dough into 9 equal parts, and place in a 25cm springform tin

8) Cover, and leave to prove until the dough just rises above the top of the tin (this can take 2-3 hours...don't put it in too warm a place, or the butter will melt)

9) Heat the oven to 190'C when the prove is done


10) Bake for 30-40 minutes, and check that it's fully done with a skewer (it should come out clean). I tend to find that this can take longer than expected, and you might want to cover the top of the brioche with tin foil, to stop it burning.

11) Turn out onto a wire rack, and allow to cool completely.