One thing good breads need is time. And I have a lot of that right now. This brioche, for example, needs to be started the day before and sit in the fridge overnight.
The recipe comes from The Sono Baking Company Cookbook by John Barricelli. I’ve written about this little gem before — the author knows his stuff. I was surprised how delicate and uniform the inside of my loaf turned out.
Brioche
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm (105-110 degrees) milk
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
2/3 cup bread flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 3/4 tsp. coarse salt
14 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
1. In a medium bowl, combine the yeast and the warm milk, and let proof for 5 minutes.
2. When the yeast has proofed, add the eggs and egg yolk and whisk to blend. Combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until the flour is absorbed and a stiff dough comes together, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. With the mixer on low, add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until the butter has been absorbed. The dough will be very sticky.
3. To knead by machine, replace the paddle with the dough hook and beat on medium-low to medium speed until the dough is smooth, shiny and elastic and completely cleans the sides of the bowl, 10 to 15 minutes. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour as needed. (Here he goes into how to knead it by hand, but I wasn’t even TRYING to get into that).
4. Turn the dough into a buttered bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
5. Butter an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and let it soften for a few minutes. Pat or roll the dough to a rectangle (or oval) about 12 inches by 8 inches, with one of the long sides facing you. Fold in the sides so that they meet in the center and the dough is about 6 inches wide. Starting from the top, roll tightly into a log. Place the loaf seam side down in the prepared pan. Cover with oiled plastic wrap or enclose in an oiled plastic bag, and let rise until increased in bulk by about 1 1/2 times and very soft, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
6. Set an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
7. Brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash. Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet and put it into the oven. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 375 and bake, rotating the sheet about two-thirds of the way through the baking time, until the brioche is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom (use an oven mitt to carefully lift it up, and gently tap on the bottom with your knuckles), 30 to 35 minutes. Turn the loaf out immediately on its side onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Of course, my main reason for making brioche was for Alton Brown’s French toast recipe.
Now that’s a Saturday breakfast!
Nicole M. Markle 