Excerpt
No-Knead Brioche DoughMakes two 9 x 5-inch loaves
Good brioche is an amazing thing. The bread is light, buttery, and fullof flavor. It can be somewhat labor intensive in its original form, so wewere immediately intrigued by the idea of creating a no-knead version.Normally the butter is beaten into the dough, but here we melt it andadd it to the wet ingredients. The long resting period allows it to befully absorbed into the dough without all that extra work. This mayseem like a large recipe, but the dough can be used to make varioussweet breads like the sticky bun recipe that follows, and the plain loavesfreeze beautifully. 6 ½ cups/975 grams all-purpose flour
½ cup/100 grams sugar
3 ½ teaspoons/20 grams fine sea salt
½ teaspoon/2 grams instant yeast
8 large eggs
1 cup/230 grams room-temperature water
½ cup/135 grams milk
1 pound/450 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Milk or heavy cream for brushing the loaves
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Whisk to
thoroughly blend.
In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, water, and milk. Once
they are well blended, whisk in the butter. Pour the wet ingredients
into the dry mixture and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon
until the liquid is absorbed and there are no lumps. The mixture will
resemble muffin batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it
rise at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours. The dough will rise to
approximately one and a half times its initial volume.
Using a rubber spatula, gently loosen the dough from the bowl.
Dampen your hands with cool water and, with the dough still in the
bowl, slide one hand under one side of the dough. Fold that side of the
dough into the center and press down gently so the dough adheres to
itself. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the folding process. Do
this two more times. After the fourth fold, flip over the dough so the
seams are on the bottom. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it
rise at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours. The dough will double in
size.
Repeat the folding procedure, ending with the seams on the bottomn.
The dough is now ready to use.
To Bake the BriocheDivide the dough in half. Place each half in a greased 9 × 5-inch
loaf pan. (You can also bake half and reserve half for the sticky bun
recipe that follows.) Cover the pans with a towel or plastic wrap. Let
the dough rest in the pans while you preheat the oven to 375oF
(190°C) or 350oF (175°C) with convection.
Brush the loaves with milk and bake on the middle rack of the
oven for 1 hour. The loaves are done when they are a deep golden
brown and sound hollow when tapped firmly with your finger. Cool
for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Turn the loaves out of their
pans and return them to the rack to cool completely.
Excerpted from Ideas in Food by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot of Ideas in Food. Copyright © 2010 by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot of Ideas in Food. Excerpted by permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.