Brioche recipe | Baking recipe | Gourmet Traveller recipe (2024)

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for brioche.

May 19, 2010 11:59pm

By Emma Knowles

30 mins preparation
45 mins cooking plus proving
Serves 6

Whether eaten plain or transformed into the most luxurious French toast or bread-and-butter pudding, brioche is one of the world's greatest breads.

Brioche would have to be one of French cuisine's greatest gifts. Buttery, rich and moreish, what's not to love? Although it's classified as a bread, it's so much more, and comes in all shapes and sizes. There's the widely recognised brioche à tête, or Parisian brioche, where the dough is placed in fluted tins and topped with a smaller ball of dough to form a "head". Or the ring-shaped brioche Bordelaise, studded with candied fruit and crowned with crushed sugar cubes. Or it can be formed, as we have, into a simple loaf (you could also make this recipe into six mini loaves).

As brioche is made with a yeasted dough, there are a few key points to remember. Have the milk lukewarm and all other ingredients at room temperature to assist the activation of the yeast and the proving of the dough. Pay particular attention to the consistency of the butter. It should be very soft, but in no way melted - dice it and leave it at room temperature for several hours before you start mixing. It will incorporate more easily into the dough at this consistency.

The way you work the dough is very important and you'll need an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook to do it. Unlike other bread recipes where you can get away with hand-kneading, elbow grease just won't cut it here. Add the butter little by little, beating all the while, and make sure each addition is incorporated before adding more. Beat well until the dough is shiny, smooth and elastic.

Brioche is double-proved, once in the bowl and again after it has been shaped, so allow plenty of time for this. Some recipes - usually those for the more buttery brioche mousseline, or rich man's brioche, shaped into a tall cylinder - call for the first proof to take place overnight in the refrigerator so that the dough is much easier to mould. But this isn't necessary for the recipe here. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and stand in a warm, draught-free place. Usually preheating the oven will be enough to warm your kitchen to a suitable temperature for proving.

Brioche is a star in its own right, and needs little in the way of embellishment. Simply sliced, toasted and served for breakfast with homemade jam - or your favourite shop-bought variety - and crème fraîche, it's a revelation. Or cube it and turn it into the most luxurious bread-and-butter pudding you've ever had. It also lends itself to savoury applications, but if you plan to serve it in this manner, omit the sugar crust and just brush it with eggwash for a glossy golden finish. It's great toasted and slathered with a rich duck liver pâté, or topped with garlicky sautéed mushrooms. The dough can also be used as a casing, say for a classic salmon coulibiac or fillet of beef en croûte.

The infamous proclamation "Let them eat cake!" in fact refers to brioche, and was said to be uttered by Queen Marie Antoinette in response to the French poor who protested they had no bread to eat. The irony is, of course, that brioche is a luxury bread, rich with butter and eggs. Some say these words weren't uttered by the queen but rather by an anonymous French princess. Whatever. As far as we're concerned, no further encouragement is required. And for a variation fit for the royal court at Versailles, try this chocolate-filled French toast instead. Let them eat cake, indeed.

Ingredients

160 ml milk
1½ tsp dried yeast
5 egg yolks, at room temperature, lightly beaten
375 gm plain flour, plus extra for dusting
30 gm caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
150 gm butter, diced and softened, plus extra for greasing
For brushing: eggwash

Method

Main

1
Warm milk in a small saucepan over low heat until lukewarm. Combine yeast and half the milk in a bowl, stirring to dissolve. Stand in a warm place until foamy (8-10 minutes).
2
Whisk remaining milk with egg yolks in a bowl and set aside.
3
Mix flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a dough hook, until combined. Make a well in the centre, add yeast mixture and yolk mixture. Beat on medium speed until a smooth dough forms (4-5 minutes).
4
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While mixing, gradually add one-third of butter at a time, beat until dough is elastic and pulls away from sides of bowl (8-10 minutes).
5
Transfer to a lightly buttered bowl, cover and stand until doubled in size (1½-2 hours).
6
Knock back dough, knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, shape into a loaf and place in an 11cm x 24cm loaf tin buttered and lined with baking paper. Cover, stand until doubled in size (30 minutes-1 hour). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C.
7
Brush top with eggwash, dust with sugar, bake until golden and risen (25-30 minutes).
8
Remove from tin, place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, return to oven until sides are golden (8-10 minutes), cool on a wire rack.

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Brioche recipe | Baking recipe | Gourmet Traveller recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my brioche not fluffy? ›

If the kneading is not done correctly and the dough is not kneaded enough or is kneaded too much, this will affect the texture of the brioche. The dough should be left to rise in a warm place, away from any draughts.

Learn More ›

What items can be made from brioche dough? ›

It can be used to create the Tatin or any of these brioche recipes: caramel sticky buns, grilled fruit tart, Fresh Fruit Muffins, Brioche à tête, apricot pastries and fabulous doughnuts! The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. After that you can freeze the dough.

Read The Full Story ›

Why does brioche need to sit overnight? ›

Let the dough rise overnight.

Overnight proofing also allows the dough to develop more flavor, and it means that you can sleep in and still have fresh baked bread ready in time for brunch.

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What is the brioche mixing method? ›

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine warm milk, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add 1½ cups (188 grams) flour and eggs, and beat at medium-low speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove paddle, and cover; let stand for 30 to 45 minutes.

What is the trick to fluffy bread? ›

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Read On ›

Why is my bread not fluffy enough? ›

You don't list any specifics but here are some possible causes:

Your rise is too short or too long. ...
The temperature during rise is too hot or too cold. ...
Your yeast is not active. ...
Your dough can't hold its shape because the flour lacks gluten.

Nov 19, 2017

Know More ›

How long can you let brioche dough rise? ›

Form the dough into a ball (it'll be very soft), place it in a greased bowl, cover the bowl, and it let rise for 1 hour. Then refrigerate the dough for several hours, or overnight. This will slow the fermentation and chill the butter, making the dough easier to shape.

Learn More ›

Why won t my brioche rise? ›

Increasing the temperature and moisture can help activate the yeast in the dough so it rises. You can also try adding more yeast. Open a new packet of yeast and mix 1 teaspoon (3 g) of it with 1 cup (240 mL) of warm water and 1 tablespoon (13 g) of sugar. Let the yeast mixture proof for 10 minutes.

Get More Info ›

Can you overwork brioche dough? ›

So making brioche is a difficult recipe. I'm using a standalone mixer, because if you overwork it, then the brioche dough won't rise as much. So using a standalone mixer avoids putting too much force into it.

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Why add butter slowly to brioche? ›

Why should butter be added slowly to brioche dough? Adding the butter into your brioche dough is a fairly lengthy process, and the butter should only be added approx. one tablespoon at a time. This is so the dough maintains the stretchy gluten we've built up, and the butter is absorbed slowly.

Tell Me More ›

Why does brioche smell weird? ›

Yeast contamination can occasionally occur in bread after baking which can produce a chemical smell that is similar to acetone. Yeast does not survive the baking process, but bread can become contaminated with "wild" yeast during the cooling, slicing or packaging processes (post processing contamination).

Learn More Now ›

How do you know when brioche is done proofing? ›

Look: Your dough should be about double the size it was when it started. If it's in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, then use a marker to trace an outline of the dough on the plastic — the dough is done rising/proofing when it stretches beyond that mark by about double.

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How sticky should brioche dough be? ›

Your brioche dough should be slightly tacky because of all the eggs and butter, but not stick to your fingers. It should also be smooth and elastic. To test this, take a small amount of dough and slowly stretch it until it becomes thin and semi-transparent.

Read The Full Story ›

Why is my brioche not yellow? ›

Eggs — for a rich loaf of bread, don't skimp on the eggs. You can use any eggs you have on hand, but if you would like a deeper yellow color to your loaves, use eggs that have deep orange yolks. Butter — be sure to buy unsalted butter and not salted butter for your brioche bread.

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Do you paddle or hook brioche dough? ›

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt on low speed until well combined. Add 4 of the eggs and the milk and continue mixing on low speed to combine. As soon as the dough starts to clump together, remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook.

Why is my brioche dough not doubling? ›

6 Reasons Why Your Dough Didn't Rise

6 Reasons Why Your Dough Didn't Rise: ...
The yeast was old. ...
You didn't test your yeast before using it. ...
The liquid was too hot, or not hot enough. ...
The yeast touched salt. ...
The dough didn't rise in a warm place. ...
You didn't grease your bowl or plastic wrap before rising.

Why did my brioche come out dense? ›

Too Much Flour

Even if you select the correct flour, if you overdo it your bread will come out heavy and dense. The addition of too excessive flour in the dough is a common error, particularly for those who are new and don't know how it is what bread dough ought to look like.

Learn More Now ›

What to do if my brioche dough doesn't rise? ›

Increasing the temperature and moisture can help activate the yeast in the dough so it rises. You can also try adding more yeast. Open a new packet of yeast and mix 1 teaspoon (3 g) of it with 1 cup (240 mL) of warm water and 1 tablespoon (13 g) of sugar.

Get More Info Here ›

Why are my brioche buns flat? ›

The Dough Is Too Sweet

That's because sugar absorbs the liquid in the dough, leaving very little for the yeast to feed on. Subsequently, the yeast dries out, becomes ineffective and the overall product comes out flat.

Show Me More ›