Soft & Buttery Brioche (32% butter recipe)

My favorite bread is... of course, brioche! The buttery and slightly sweet flavor... somewhat makes you think this is not a bread but a pastry. It is the high contents of butter and eggs that give brioche the buttery soft pastry like texture.

How much butter do you think will be used for a loaf of brioche? It actually varies a lot depending on recipes. The ratio of butter to flour can be 30-80% in terms of weight - for example, 60% butter brioche calls for 60g butter for each 100g flour in the recipe. Obviously, 60-80% butter brioche is the best in its rich buttery flavor. Yet, if you want to use brioche as burger buns, 30-40% butter brioche is better, because it is still buttery and soft but have enough texture and structure.

Today, I am going to post 32% butter brioche recipe - which is good by itself, but even better as burger buns. I will update the burger recipe in a few days, so please stay tuned... :)

The following recipe is adopted and modified from Artisanal Bread Baking class materials at French Culinary Institute.

Soft & Buttery Brioche (32% butter recipe)
(Yield: 6 brioche buns / Cooking time: 6 hours*)
* Yes, I know it takes so much time! But, most of it is proofing time, and this recipe is definitely worth trying at home.

Ingredients:
+ 70g milk
+ 2 Tbsp sugar
+ one large egg
+ 6g dry instant yeast
+ 220g all-purpose flour
+ 0.5 tsp salt
+ 5 Tbsp(70g) unsalted butter, cold but pliable
+ vegetable oil (to grease a bowl)
+ one extra egg & water, for egg wash




Procedures:
1. Warm up milk in microwave for 10-20 seconds till it reaches around 120°F(50°C).


2. Add sugar and yeast to the warm milk and mix well until sugar is dissolved. Whisk an egg and add to milk mixture from #1. Mix well to combine.


3. Transfer the liquid to a bowl, and add flour and salt in two or three batches. Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients with a fork. When the dough is formed, work the dough with a stand mixer with dough hook attachment until gluten is formed (at mid-speed for about 7-8 minutes with KitchenAid stand mixer).


4. Change the stand mixer attachment from dough hook to paddle. Then, add butter bit by bit to the dough while mixing at low speed. After adding all the butter, mix the dough a few minutes more to ensure all the ingredients are perfectly combined.


5. With hands, form a round dough and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough proof at room temperature. When 45 minutes have passed, fold the dough twice. Folding is a very important step for four reasons: (1) to even out the temperature of the dough, (2) to strengthen the structure of the dough, (3) to help yeast access new food by shaking everything up, and (4) to slow down the fermentation process and release carbon dioxide.


6. Cover the bowl again, then keep proofing the dough for another one hour until it is double in volume.


7. Gently flatten the dough with palm on floured surface, and divide it into six equal weight pieces (69-70g) with bench scraper. The higher than normal butter and egg content ratio definitely adds more flavor to brioche, but it results in a very sticky and wet dough, which is hard to work with. To handle the dough more easily, flour the work surface and your palm generously, and make sure the room temperature is not too warm.


8. Tightly shape the dough into rounds. Place the shaped dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat. Cover the shaped dough with lightly greased plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for about 1.5-2 hours until it is double in volume.


9. While the dough is proofing, preheat your oven at 400°F(204°C).

10. When the dough is ready to bake, lightly coat the dough with egg wash using a pastry brush.


11. Bake brioche for 20 minutes until the top is deep golden brown.

12. As soon as the brioche is baked, let it cool over wired rack for at least 15 minutes.



Enjoy~