Brioche Loaf

Source

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, or Zoe Bakes blog

Taste 5 out of 5

Difficulty 2 out of 5

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast

- 1 1/2 tbsp salt

- 8 eggs, lightly beaten

- 1/2 cup honey

- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus more butter for greasing the pan

- 7 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

- egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water)

Makes 4 1-lb loaves

Instruction

1. Mix the yeast, slat, eggs, honey and melted butter with the water. Add the flour. The dough will be loose, but will firm up when chilled; don’t try to work it before chilling.

2. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours. The dough can be refrigerated for use over the next 5 days. Beyond 5 days, freeze the dough in 1-lb portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. When using frozen dough, thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using, then allow the usual rest and rise times.

3. On baking day, grease a 9x4x3 inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a grapefruit sized piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape into a ball. Elongate the ball into an oval and place in the prepared pan to rest for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

4. 5 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350F. Using a pastry brush, brush the top crust with egg wash. Place the bread near the center of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a medium golden brown. Due to the fat in the dough, brioche will not form a hard crust.

5. Allow to cool before slicing and eating.