Café Gramercy · Annette’s Recipe Box
Annette's Brioche
Butter and eggs, and a little patience while it rises. Give it that, and it gives you everything back.
Ingredients
- 250 g (2 cups) bread flour
- 30 g (2½ tablespoons) sugar
- 5 g (1 teaspoon) fine salt
- 7 g (2¼ teaspoons, one packet) instant yeast
- 3 large eggs, cold
- 60 ml (¼ cup) whole milk, lukewarm
- 140 g (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, soft
- 1 egg beaten with a little milk, for the wash
Method
- Bring the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast together in the mixer. Add the eggs and the milk, and let the dough hook knead until it is smooth and elastic and leaves the side of the bowl, about 8 minutes. This is good work. Let it happen.
- Now the butter, soft, one spoonful at a time, and wait for each to disappear before you add the next. Keep going until the dough is glossy and very soft and stretches like silk. Soft and rich is exactly right. Trust it, and it stays tender.
- Cover it and let it rise until doubled, about 1½ to 2 hours. Better still, let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. The cold firms the butter, deepens the flavor, and makes it a pleasure to shape.
- Shape it into a buttered loaf pan, or into little brioches à tête in their fluted tins. Cover, and let it rise again until puffy, about an hour.
- Brush with the egg wash. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, until it is deep and golden. If the top is eager, lay a little foil over it and carry on.
- Rest it a few minutes, then turn it out. Warm brioche is one of the good things in life.