Adding 25% butter to a sourdough is easy. Adding it at the right moment is the whole skill. Put it in at the start and the fat coats the flour particles, the gluten never develops, and you get a dense, greasy dough that proofs into a brick. Add it after the bulk, in five stages, waiting for each slug to disappear before the next, and you get a brioche that is stringy, tender and still tastes of fermentation.
Butter after the bulk, in five stages
The dough is mixed with 40% starter, bulk-fermented 3 hours at 24 °C to 40%, and only then does the butter start going in. Five additions, 20 minutes apart, each one followed by a coil fold. The dough goes from slack and sticky to smooth and slightly tacky; if it still feels greasy at the fourth addition, the butter was too warm.
| Stage | Butter added | Dough state |
|---|---|---|
| Mix | none | Slack, 72% hydration |
| Bulk end | none | 40% rise, domed |
| Addition 1-2 | 10% of flour weight | Slippery, slides in the bowl |
| Addition 3-4 | 10% | Glossy, holds a window |
| Addition 5 | 5% | Smooth, tacky, ready |
Cold proofing is non-negotiable
Enriched dough with this much fat needs 14 hours at 4 °C. Warm proofing gives a brioche that tastes of butter and nothing else; the long cold stage is where the sourdough character survives the fat. Divide into six 70 g balls per 20 cm tin, roll each into a tight ball on an unfloured bench, and let them rise in the tin for 90 minutes at 24 °C after the cold retard.
Egg wash, twice
One coat of egg wash before baking and a second one 10 minutes into the bake, applied with a soft brush and a light hand. The double wash is what gives brioche its deep mahogany shine. 190 °C, no steam, 26 minutes. An egg-washed loaf browns fast; if the top is dark at 18 minutes, tent it with foil.
- Crumb rating 4/5: stringy, tender, tears in soft sheets.
- Best on day two, when the crumb has firmed and the butter has settled.
- Toast it — brioche that is a day old makes the best French toast in this ledger.
If the dough breaks when you try to window it after the third butter addition, the butter was colder than room temperature and has not emulsified. Stop folding, wait 20 minutes, and continue.
Sources / 参考来源
Published reference works consulted for this log: