How to make
I am writing this recipe with special inspiration, because brioche is one of those favorite pastry desserts that captivate, fascinate and surprise.
When we hear about French cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is - butter, a lot of butter. And here, of course, is no exception and this characterizes the real brioche. If there is not a lot of butter, it remains like an ordinary bread, no different from all the others. Therefore - use quality butter and leave it at room temperature to soften.
The other characteristic feature of the brioche is more eggs and almost no liquid. One will think that it is difficult for such dough to rise, because it becomes too heavy, for which sugar also plays an important role. Well, to everyone's surprise, it doesn't have a problem with rising and becoming puffy, but the condition is, that it needs to be perfectly mixed, as well as to use the appropriate flour (with a higher gluten content, especially for Easter bread and brioche).
Due to the softness and stickiness of the dough, it is best to use a mixer with the right attachments. This will greatly facilitate and speed up your work and the result will be many times more satisfactory.
Start by crushing the yeast in the milk. It's very little, so you just need to stirring it until it turns into a thick mixture.
Sift the flour with the salt and add to it the lightly beaten 4 eggs with the sugar. Add the yeast and turn on the mixer for 7-8 minutes. If you're doing it by hand, you will need more time.
After these minutes, start adding the butter in pieces without stopping the appliance and continue kneading for another 3 minutes. If it is too soft or even too thin, add a little more flour, but never make a hard dough.
Put it in a bowl, wrap it with a damp cloth and leave it to rise for 1-2 hours.
Put the risen dough on a lightly floured surface. It is greasy and stretchy, as it should be.
Roll it out enough to flatten it, roll it up and put it in a rectangular cake tin with a length of 11″ (28 cm). This is the original recipe, but I baked it in a round 9.1″ (23 cm) tin in diameter. It is its taste that really matters, not the shape.
Cover it with cling film and refrigerate it for 3-4 hours minimum or overnight. When you take it out, wait 2-3 hours for it to rise well.
I will admit to you that when I can't wait, I just leave it to rise in the normal way, in a warm room for an hour or two, so that it can triple its volume.
Spread it with the beaten egg yolk and bake it in a preheated oven at 360°F (180 degrees), on the low grill for about 30 minutes or until it aquires a nice darker golden color.
Keep in mind, that it darkens quickly on top, but to make sure that it will bake well on the inside as well, cover it with foil after the 15th minute.
Be careful not to bake it for too long, so that your brioche does not dry out, but maintains a delicate and tender structure.
It's best to let it cool before you break or cut it, but I've told you from experience, that it's hard to resist the aroma. While it's warm, the inside is slightly damp due to the butter and breaks into silky threads.
Classic French Brioche - just delicious!
