Fresh From The Oven - Brioche

I've not been around much lately ~ sorry!  There are no excuses suitable but to say that there just aren't enough hours in the day pretty much sums up whats been going on!!!  I'm pretty much back to full capacity after my recent illness though, many thanks to all of you who left me get well wishes, it was much appreciated ;0)

As such, my time in the kitchen has been very limited but rest assured that I am planning to put things right very soon and I even have a few recipes I am hoping to share with you all this weekend (time permitting of course!!) starting with this very yummy and easy Brioche recipe.

This month's Fresh From The Oven challenge was picked by moi!  This was my second time in charge of choosing the recipe for the group and pressure was immense but I've always wanted to try my hand at Brioche, I never had though as I always thought it was a tricky bread to make.  I was wrong ;0)

Brioche
400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
5g powdered dried yeast
10g fine sea salt
90ml warm milk
2 tbsp caster sugar
100g butter, softened
4 medium free range eggs, beaten
To Glaze
1 medium free range egg
2 tbsp milk

To knead by hand: mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, and bring it all together to form a dough. Knead for about 10 mins, until smooth and shiny.  Or, to use a food mixer: fit the dough hook and add all the dough ingredients to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, and leave to knead for about 10 mins, until smooth and shiny.

Shape the dough into a round, place in a bowl and cover tightly. Leave in the fridge overnight.

The next day, divide the dough in two and form into the shape of your choice. Lightly flour the loaves, lay them on a wooden board or linen cloth and cover with a plastic bag. Leave them somewhere nice and warm to prove until almost doubled in size; this could take 3 or 4 hours, as the dough is cold.

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. For the glaze, beat the egg and milk together. Transfer the risen loaves to a baking tray and brush all over with the glaze. Bake for about 10 mins, then lower the oven setting to 180C/gas mark 4 and bake for a further 30 mins or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 2 small loaves
River Cottage Handbook No.3 - Bread

My sis in law had taken pity on me last weekend and took me into town for a bit of retail therapy.  Of course I just had to pop into Lakeland (I could easily spend my months salary in that shop!) and I happened to spot a silicone Brioche pan.  I divided half my dough into a loaf and the other half went to make individual brioches. 

I haven't cut into the loaf yet, that is happily living in my freezer for the time being, but the individual brioches turned out a treat.  I was a bit worried while making the dough that it was too wet, there was no way I could have kneaded it by hand, opting instead for Big Bertha, so I wasn't all that sure how well the end product would end up.  For a first attempt I'm pretty pleased ;0)

Don't forget to head over to the Fresh From The Oven page from tomorrow onwards to see how everyone else got along with this months challenge.