Brioche

I couldn't resist the sound of a buttery, rich, and delicious home-baked loaf of bread. Now that I've begun bringing peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches to work, having something a bit fresher and more wholesome* than Wonder bread sounded great.



*wholesome used here to indicate extreme amounts of butter.





Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup very warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
• One 1/4-oz package active dry yeast (not quick-rising)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/3 cups cake flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 sticks (10 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, at room temperature

Mix the water and yeast in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. While that's sitting, sift together the other dry ingredients and beat together with eggs for approximately 1 minute. Slowly mix in the dissolved yeast and continue mixing for approximately 10 minutes. The dough will be very dry and tough. Stick it out - it's worth it.


Add the butter cubes, about 2 at a time, beating the mixture for about 1 minute after each addition. Once all the butter has been added, beat the dough for another 10 minutes, until it's smooth.

Transfer to a large floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place for 3 hours.


Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and gently work out the air bubbles. Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Butter two loaf pans. Turn dough out onto floured surface, divide it into two portions and shape dough into 2 rectangles that fit into the loaf pans. Allow dough to rise in loaf pans, uncovered, until it is about 1/2" above the top of the pans (this takes around 3 hours).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (I usually preheat the oven for 30 minues - 1 hour to ensure that it is equally heated). Bake the brioche for 35-40 minutes or until the top is browned and it makes a hollow sound when tapped from the bottom.

Remove brioche from oven, turn loaves out onto cooling rack and wrap immediately with aluminum foil to preserve moisture.

Enjoy!