Brioche

 This is another recipe from the Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook and it is a winner.  I love brioche, a rich, slightly sweet French bread.  I've tried to make it before but with not a lot of success but this recipe is not only amazingly delicious but easy too, especially if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook.

When I make bread, I usually like to knead it by hand, so I've only rarely used my dough hook.  However, this dough is very wet and sticky, which makes it harder to knead by hand.  You need to use more flour by hand, which makes the dough less airy and not as delicious.

 I decided to make brioche because I recently bought brioche pans (cooking stores are always a dangerous place for me!) and I wanted to use them.  Brioche pans are these fluted pans which make beautiful loaves.  They come in a variety of sizes.  I got two medium ones, which were maybe too small for the equivalent of a loaf (although they turned out fine).  Next time (and trust me, there will be a next time soon) I will try making three instead.

 Make sure to grease each bump well.  The classic brioche loaf has a little knob on the top.  I made mine too big, and then the bread rose in the oven, it fell off (and I ate it and it was delicious).  Next time, I would make them about half as big (about a heaping tablespoon of dough) and put it right in the center.  If you aren't obsessed with kitchen gadgets like me and don't have brioche pans, a loaf pan works great.  The bread turned out beautiful and was so tasty I ate an entire loaf by myself.  They also make great French toast (although good luck having any last long enough for that).

Brioche

1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsps dried yeast
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups unbleached al-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
8 tbsps (1 stick) unsalted butter, a room temperature, cut into dime-sized pieces
Egg wash made with 1 egg and 1 tsp water
1. Place warm water and 2 tsps of the sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast on top and mix with a whisk until yeast is dissolved. Let stand for 5 minutes while yeast blooms.
2. Add remaining sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, milk, flour, and salt. Using the hook attachment, mix on low speed for 3 minutes to stat bringing dough together. Switch to medium speed and slowly drop pieces of butter into dough. Mix for 10 to 12 minutes. Dough will be wet and sticky and will have good elasticity when stretched.
3. Pull dough from bowl onto a floured surface. Using extra flour on your hands, form dough into a ball. Place dough in an oiled, medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Proof in a warm room (70 - 75F) for about 2 1/2 hours. Dough will almost double in size.
4. Pull dough from bowl onto a floured surface and flatten it with your hands, releasing excess air bubbles. Form dough into a 12x6-inch rectangle and position it so that a long side is facing you. Fold the 2 short ends onto the top so they meet in the center. Starting with the closest end, roll dough away from you into a tight log.
5. Lift loaf into an oiled 9x5x4-inch loaf pan, seam side down. Using your hands, push down on the dough to make sure it extends to all corners of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let proof in a warm room for about 1 1/2 hours. Loaf will rise to top of pan.
6. While loaf is proofing, preheat oven to 360F degrees.
7. Remove plastic and brush top of loaf with egg wash. Place pan on center rack of oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes. Loaf will be golden brown on top and sides. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes, then run a sharp knife around sides of loaf to release it from the pan. invert pan to remove loaf.

Recipe from Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook by Leslie Mackie
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