Brioche
An enriched dough kneaded to full gluten before a single gram of butter goes in, chilled overnight, and baked as a row of joined balls.
- Prep
- 35m
- Cook
- 35m
- Waiting
- 15h 20m
- Total
- 16h 30m
- Serves
- one loaf
- Effort
- Involved
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 400 g | Knead 10 minutes to a smooth, elastic dough that clears the bowl 12m | Beat in the butter a cube at a time, then bulk prove 1 hour 1h 25m Add the next cube only when the last has disappeared. | Chill overnight, then divide into six balls and line them up in the tin 12h 15m Warm brioche is unshapeable. Cold, it handles like plasticine. | Second prove 2 hours until the dough crests the rim 2h Enriched dough proves slowly — fat coats the gluten and slows everything down. | Bake at 180°C / 350°F for 35 minutes, to 92°C in the centre 35m Tent with foil after 20 minutes. The egg and sugar colour long before the middle is cooked. | |
| 4 | ||||||
| 60 g | ||||||
| 50 g | ||||||
| 7 g | ||||||
| 8 g | ||||||
| 200 g | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||||
-
Knead 10 minutes to a smooth, elastic dough that clears the bowl
12m- strong white bread flour 400 g
- eggs 4
- whole milk 60 g
- caster sugar 50 g
- instant yeast 7 g
- fine salt 8 g
-
Beat in the butter a cube at a time, then bulk prove 1 hour
1h 25m- from 1 Knead 10 minutes to a smooth, elastic dough that clears the bowl
- unsalted butter 200 g
Add the next cube only when the last has disappeared.
-
Chill overnight, then divide into six balls and line them up in the tin
12h 15m- from 2 Beat in the butter a cube at a time, then bulk prove 1 hour
Warm brioche is unshapeable. Cold, it handles like plasticine.
-
Second prove 2 hours until the dough crests the rim
2h- from 3 Chill overnight, then divide into six balls and line them up in the tin
Enriched dough proves slowly — fat coats the gluten and slows everything down.
-
Bake at 180°C / 350°F for 35 minutes, to 92°C in the centre
35m- from 4 Second prove 2 hours until the dough crests the rim
- egg 1
- pearl sugar (optional) 2 tbsp
Tent with foil after 20 minutes. The egg and sugar colour long before the middle is cooked.
Butter last, always
Fat is a gluten inhibitor. It films the protein strands and stops them linking, so a dough with 50 per cent butter added up front never develops any structure — it bakes into something closer to shortbread. Build the gluten network first with flour, egg and liquid alone, then work the butter into a scaffold that already exists. The overnight chill does two jobs at once, firming the butter so the dough can be shaped and letting the flavour deepen.
Notes
- Keep the dough below 24°C while mixing. If the mixer bowl feels warm, chill it for 20 minutes and carry on.
- A thermometer beats a skewer here. Brioche can look done and still be raw at the seam between the balls.
- It slices best the next day and toasts brilliantly for three more.