Sourdough Brioche
“There is never enough butter,” Julia Child said famously. And yes, I agree, especially when it comes to such a butter-bread masterpiece as brioche. The philosophy behind sourdough brioche is to unite the contradictory and end up with sweet but at the same time sour bread, a bread that starts as a lifeless, heavy, buttery dough but transforms into a feather-light delicacy only by the power of a natural starter.
Certainly, it is a challenge but the result is worth it.
Before you start make sure your fridge is stacked with butter and eggs and don’t think about the calories or God forbid, loosing weight. Brioche cannot pretend to be a low-cal food, on the contrary, but it is rich with fundamentally good stuff. And I personally love the Italian way, filling brioche with ice-cream!
Originally created in France (And where else?), brioche quickly conquered the world. There are many forms you can make brioche in: muffins or pound cakes just to name a few. It is a good breakfast treat, spread with jam and even more butter or it can be a sandwich bread filled with cheese and ham.
This is the sourdough brioche for which you need time, patience and planing ahead. Your reward will be a brioche perfectly balanced in taste that remains fresh for days.
Ingredients
- Make a stiff starter. You will need:
- 25 g sourdough starter
- 90 g white bread flour
- 20 g brown sugar
- 40 g water
You can mix the stiff starter before going to bed and leave it out overnight. Or you can do it in the morning and wait at least 6 hours for the starter to become alive.
- Make the dough. You will need:
- 175g stiff starter
- 400g white bread flour (spelt or wheat)
- 30 g brown sugar
- 5 g salt
- 5 eggs
- 250 g butter
Method
1.Mix all ingredients except butter by hand or in your stand mixer.
2.Mix a room temperature butter in the dough using the stand mixer or incorporate a cold butter with your hands. (When you are incorporating the butter with your hands; the dough slowly becomes silky and elastic and surprisingly not too sticky. Squeeze it and stretch it and continue until it becomes one homogeneous substance.)
Bulf Fermentation
Then either leave the dough in a room temperature until it almost double its size which can take up to 12 hours. Or let it rest for one hour and then refrigerate it over night. In the morning, remove it from the fridge and leave it in a room temperature to grow for another 6, 7 hours until it almost doubles its size. Make sure the dough is covered with either plastic or a wet towel so that it doesn’t chap.
Final proof
Butter the form or insert a baking paper in it and form the dough as you wish. Let it proof for another 2 to 4 hours, covered.
Preheat your oven for 200 °C (400° F). Apply an egg wash and bake it for 20 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then remove it from the form.
