The festive season is all about rich and flavourful bakes. Plenty of butter, spices, and sweetness to make my new years’ resolutions even more important to stick to. And I will do it I promise, but for new let’s see what delicious treats we can make with brioche dough.
Brioche is the pinnacle of enriched bread with its 40% butter content. Some may not even call it bread because it appears to be made with the ingredient ratios of cake. It not only contains a huge amount of butter, but all the liquid is made up of eggs. The only thing keeping it from being cake is the slightly lower amount of sugar, but we will take care of that when we add the filling during final shaping.
Whenever I make my no-knead brioche I always mix up a double batch so that I can use it for two projects and that is exactly what I’ve done this time around. This recipe used half the dough which makes 6 portions. If you want to use all the dough to make 12, then remember to double the ingredients for the filling.
Head over to the Brioche playlist on my channel where you will find plenty of ideas for the other half of the dough if you want to stick with smaller batches.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the dough –
500g (1.1lb) white bread flour
250g (8.8oz) egg
12g (0.42oz) salt
9g (0.32oz) instant dry yeast or 11g (0.38oz) active dry yeast or 27g (0.95oz) fresh yeast
60g (2.1oz) sugar
200g (7oz) softened butter
For the filling –
60g (2.1oz) soft butter
70g (2.5oz) sugar
3g (0.1oz) cinnamon
2g (0.07oz) ground cardamom
Mix to a smooth paste and leave on the counter until needed.
To top –
1 egg for glazing
Pearl sugar
To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.
The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration.
If you are using active dry yeast, then you will need to let it sit in the egg for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.
If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.
Method
- Make the dough. In a large bowl combine the eggs, yeast, salt, and sugar. Whisk to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add 8 tablespoons (200g; 7oz) flour and whisk. Add the softened butter and whisk until smooth.
- Add the remaining flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F).
- Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
- Fold #1.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Fold #2.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into two pieces and shape into balls. If you are not dividing the dough, give it another fold.
- Wrap in clingfilm and cold ferment for 18 – 24 hours. After cold bulk fermentation you can use this dough for any project you like.
- Make the twists. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle. Spread the filling evenly all over. Fold the dough in 3 layers. Roll it out slightly. Trim the edges and slice the dough in 6 long strips. Twist each strip into a tube and then roll it up. Place on a non-stick paper lined baking tray.
- Cover and proof for 2.5 hours. During the final hour of fermentation pre-heat the oven to 170C (340F) fan on or 190C (375F) fan off.
- Brush the twists with egg, leave to dry for 5 minutes, and then brush again. Sprinkle with pearl sugar.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Make a sugar syrup just before the twists come out the oven. Combine 20g (0.7oz) sugar and 20g (0.7oz) water in a small pan and bring up to a boil.
- Brush the twists with the hot sugar syrup as soon as they come out the oven.
Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.
Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.
