Mmmm...Brioche

 Yesterday, Jo posted about the best French Toast Recipe, and I knew that I needed to try it.  I thought about just making it with regular-type bread, but then, I was intrigued by the idea of making Brioche, so that had to happen.

Brioche is a long, but not a hard process.  Also, if you're making it by hand, good luck.  This dough took 20 minutes of kneading with the Kitchen-Aid.  I'm sure the use of a machine somehow makes it less authentic or something, but I don't mind.

It's so pretty!

Brioche (adapted only very slightly from the King Arthur Flour site)

2 3/4 Cups Flour
1/4 Cup Nonfat Dry Milk
3 T Sugar
1 1/4 t Salt
1 T Instant Yeast
3 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Warm Water
10 T Butter (1 cube, plus 2 T)

Throw everything into your mixer (or your bread machine, set on "Dough"), mix with the paddle mixer on medium-high speed until your dough is all mixed together.  It will be sticky, and will not look at all like bread dough should look.  Don't panic, just leave the paddle on, and keep mixing on medium-high speed for 10 minutes.  Then, scrape down the sides of the bowl (it should feel more doughy now) and switch out the paddle for the dough hook.  Knead for another 5-10 minutes on a lower setting (I used a 2).  Once you're finished kneading the dough, it will still be very soft, but not terribly sticky.  Cover the bowl, and let rise for 1 hour.  Once that hour is done, it will not have risen very much.  Transfer the dough to the fridge and let rise for at least 2 more hours (At this point, you can let it rise overnight if you'd like to split up the time you have to pay attention to it). Once you're done with the fridge, it should have risen more noticeably.  Take the dough out and shape it however you'd like to use it.  I made two braided loaves.  The dough will have a very clay-like texture, and should shape very easily.  The two braided loaves should go into 8" bread pans, and will look quite tiny, even in the small pans.  Cover, and let the loaves rise for another 3 hours (this give it enough time to both warm up from the fridge, and fill the pans).  Once that's done, bake the loaves at 350 for 40-45 minutes.  If you don't want very dark bread (I didn't), tent the loaves with Aluminum foil after about 10 minutes.  The bread will have a slightly flaky, delicious crust, and a tender, amazingly delicious center.

Mmmm...Slightly Flaky Crust

 

Soft, Delicious Center

When I cut into the bread, I was pretty excited with how amazingly well it turned out.  I'm tempted now to try and make some croissants using the same recipe, and just shaping them into crescents.  The crust on the bread and the center are pretty much exactly the texture that I think a croissant should be...though I'm not really any great expert, admittedly.

And, for those who don't care about bread, here's a picture of Katie and I last night in our front yard area.  Isn't she adorable?  We didn't even tell her to pose.

Katie, and me, 21 weeks.