Brioche

Sunday mornings are for curling up with a warm blanked, snuggles, a hot cup of java and the best brioche one could have outside of countryside France. Buttery dough with a slight sweet note will entice your palette and your mind will scream for more.  Basic brioche using sourdough to leaven is easy to make, and hardly any work at all.  The most you have to do is bring it up to your mouth to eat it, well, almost. 

The night before preparing the brioche dough, feed 40g of your starter with 80g of water and 80g of flour.  Place it in a glass big enough for it to double.  Mark the jar with an elastic band or marker so you know how much it grew overnight.

400g of flour

80g of sugar

7g of salt

200g sourdough

100g of milk, warmed up

150 g butter, salted (room temperature)

3 large eggs (+ 1 egg yolk for brushing)

1/2 teaspoon grated rind of 1 lemon or orange (optional)

Beat eggs with sugar and milk.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the remaining ingredients and stir in the egg mixture using a wooden spoon . Stir until it is well incorporated. Let stand for 30 minutes. Wet you finger tips with cold water and fold the dough three times at 20-minute intervals. After the last fold, let stand at room temperature for two hours. Refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator, shape and place in a 23 cm x 13 cm loaf pan (9 inch x 5 inch).  I like to line the pan with parchment paper for easy sliding out and clean up.  Final proof for 2 hour. Beat egg yolk and brush top of brioche just before baking. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for about 45 minutes or internal temperature reaches 90C. 

Enjoy every rich bite once cooled.