Brioche

When I think of something like this I wonder just what it was that whoever first made it was actually thinking of. After all brioche is a cross between cake and bread, was it a mistake or did they plan to make it. Was it a splash of inspiration or did they think why not try to mix things up. I remember I think I was Billy Clonally asking  just was the person thinking  when he saw a chicken lay an egg. I know I will boil it and dip some bread in it. Truth be told that they probably saw other animals eat them and that was that but with this bread was it inspired or a glorious accident.  I know that if it was me and it all was a mistake then I would have said that is why I did it. I guess we will never know.

You will need
15g/½oz  fresh yeast
2tbsp warm milk
375g/13oz strong flour
2tbsp sugar
2 good pinches of salt
175g/6oz unsalted butter
5 eggs

Crumble the yeast in to a bowl with the warm milk, not to hot just body temperature. Then sift your flour in to a bowl and mix in all the dry ingredients.

Take your eggs and whisk them together and when the yeast has just started to froth up then add the milk mix that with the eggs. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the egg mix . then working from the edges work the flour in to the egg.

Keep working this till you get a dough.  Once the dough has formed and you get a nice ball then knead the bread for a while then cover with oiled cling film and let it rise, it will take about 1 hour or so.

Turn the dough out of the bole and knock it back and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Now take your butter and dice it up and mix that in to you dough and then pinch and squeeze it in to the bread. Do not use chilled butter but have it out and soft or it will take you to long and you will over work the bread.

Now grease a tray or loaf tin and form the dough in to the tin. Cover and let it rise for about 45 minutes until the loaf tin is almost full.

Glaze with some egg or milk and then bake in a preheated oven set at 200c or 400f for about 35 to 40 minutes until full baked. Then turn out on a rack and let it cool. Now if you want to get cleaver you can add chocolate chips to this , dried front or spices. Evan split the ingredient at the beginning and make one half with some coco powder in and them make a half chocolate and half plane loaf, the possibilities are endless.