Brioche

Maggy and I tried these the other day and were very impressed with how delicious and easy they were. They take very little time to make and work perfectly for breakfasts or deserts. The dough starts out with a "thick" texture, but once baked is surprisingly soft. We would recommend eating them after letting them cool for about 20 to 30 minutes. After shaping them you can also place them on a floured sheet, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate them, to bake the next morning.

Ingredients:

500 grams of all-purpose flour
20 grams of fresh yeast or 1 1/2 tsp of instant dry yeast
1 tsp of salt
40 grams of sugar
50 grams of butter (melted)
250 ml of milk
1 egg yolk
1 egg

Toppings: Anything you like, Maggy and I used large granular sugar and poppy seeds.

Makes about 6-8 rolls

Process:

Warm the milk, then dissolve the yeast in the milk for 10 minutes. Add flour to a bowl, making a depression in the middle. Add sugar, salt, egg yolk, milk/yeast mixture, and melted butter to the depression in the flour.

Gradually mix the flour with the ingredients, then take the dough out of the bowl and knead for 5-10 minutes on a floured work surface. The dough will be "tough" and slightly "sticky" at this point.

Place within a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap and let "rest/proof" for 30-60 minutes at room temp. It should double in size.

Place the newly risen dough onto a work surface and divide into 8 equal portions. Form each of these into a design of your choice and let rest for 30 more minutes at room temp. At this point you may save your unbaked rolls for the following morning, by wrapping the sheet tightly in plastic and placing within the refrigerator.

Before baking beat one egg and brush each roll with beaten egg and sprinkle the toppings of your choice.

To bake place your rolls upon a baking sheet or bread stone and bake at 220° Celcius for 10 to 15 minutes. They should be soft and golden brown when you take them out. Let rest upon a rack with air flowing on all sides for 20 to 30 minutes after baking.