About the Recipe
What You'll Love
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups Bread Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons Granulated Sugar
2 teaspoon Fast Acting Yeast
1/2 cup Milk (warmed)
3 tablespoons Maple Syrup + 1 extra for wash
4 eggs + 1 extra for wash
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
Preparation
Start by mixing together the warmed milk and yeast. Make sure that the milk is warm but not hot. Hot milk will kill the activating enzymes in the yeast. Give it a good stir and let it sit for 10-15 minutes or until it forms a bubbly layer at the top.
Gradually add in the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly (approx. 7 minutes).
In a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add in the egg mixture and maple syrup. Next, cube your softened butter into smaller pieces and kneed it into the dough. Kneed dough for 5-10 minutes until all ingredients are well incorporated. The dough should be very soft.
Form the dough into a round ball and cover bowl with a tea towel to let sit and rise for about an hour (or until it has doubled in size).
Once the dough has risen, place in the fridge and chill for half an hour.
During this time, prepare your loaf pan. Lightly butter all sides and dust with a thin layer of flour making sure to tap out any extra. You can also line the tin with parchment paper if you prefer.
Once chilled remove the dough from the fridge and shape the it into 7 equal sized balls. I find it easiest to do this on a well floured work surface. I take each section of dough and fold the sides in underneath until I reach a round shape. I then roll the ball slightly.
Place each dough ball into the prepared bread tin in two rows, one with three balls the other with four. Let the dough rise for 30-35 minutes, or until they have plumped up in the pan before applying the egg wash.
Using a pastry brush, brush each ball with the egg and maple wash.
To make this, simply mix together an egg with 1 tablespoon with maple syrup and 1 tablespoon water. Mix until everything is well combined.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Bake brioche for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean).
Let the brioche cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.