Brioche is a rich, pillowy bread delicious on its own. At the café we use this dough as the base to our Apricot Morning Buns, Sticky Buns, Fennel Morning Buns, Hot Cross Buns, and Brioche Ring.
Portions: Makes 1 Pullman loaf
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (235g) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon + ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast 5¼ cups (630g) bread flour, divided
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon (113g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup (171g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg, for wash
Preparation:
Combine milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk milk and yeast together by hand until yeast dissolves. Add 1 cup (120g) bread flour and sugar and continue to whisk by hand until ingredients resemble a thick slurry. This is the sponge.
Spread 4¼ cups (510g) bread flour evenly on top of the sponge, then place the salt on top. Do not let the salt touch the sponge, or it will kill the yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until sponge bubbles around edges and flour splits and cracks, 30 to 45 minutes. Return bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add 6 eggs to sponge mixture and mix on lowest speed until combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Add butter in three additions, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Scrape bowl well with a rubber spatula or plastic bowl scraper to incorporate all ingredients. Mix on lowest speed for 20 to 30 minutes. Dough will eventually make a slapping sound in the mixing bowl. You may need to hold on to the mixer to steady it. Dough will look shiny and smooth and pull away from the mixing bowl, gathering around the dough hook. Check the gluten formation by using the windowpane test: pinch off a ½-inch ball of dough and stretch it out. It should be strong enough to stretch out into a thin, transparent sheet. Transfer dough into a large bowl lightly coated in oil or nonstick spray. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Remove plastic wrap and punch dough down by taking the edge of one side of the dough and pulling it to the center. Repeat with the other three sides, so the seams are all in the center. Dough should be shiny and smooth. Rotate the dough so the seams are at the bot- tom of the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator until doubled in volume, about 4 hours. For the best flavor development, let it rise longer, 8 hours to overnight. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Lightly coat a Pullman loaf pan with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it back and forth by hand to shape into a log. Place dough into prepared pan and set aside to proof until it has risen and is room temperature, about 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, beat egg. Use pastry brush to coat top of loaf with egg wash. Place loaf pan on a sheet pan and bake 30 minutes. Rotate and continue baking until top of loaf is brown and internal temperature reads 200°, about 30 more minutes. Cool in pan and then unmold.