Sourdough Bubble Top Brioche Recipes

THE BEST SOURDOUGH BRIOCHE (TANGZHONG METHOD)

Steps:

• Add all the ingredients to a small mixing bowl and mix until just combined. Cover the bowl and let the levain rise in a warm spot (78-80°F/26-27°C) for four hours, or until it has doubled in size.
• Add milk and flour to a small pot. Heat up over medium heat while stirring with a whisk. Once the mixture has thickened and reached the temperature of 150°F/65°C, it is ready.
• Transfer the tangzhong to a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap that is touching the entire surface of the tangzhong. Cool to room temperature before continuing with the next step.
• Add all the ingredients, except salt and butter, including the sweet levain and tangzhong, to the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix until just combined. Rest/autolyse for 30 minutes.
• Add the salt and knead on medium speed for 5-10 minutes.
• Slowly add in cubed, softened butter, one cube at a time. When you have added all the butter, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and continue mixing at medium-high speed until the dough passes the window-pane test. This typically takes around 15-25 minutes, depending on your mixer.
• Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and proof for three hours at around 75°F/24°C.
• After the three hours proof, you can transfer the dough to the fridge and let it cold-proof for 8-15 hours.
• Butter two 9-inch bread tins.
• Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into two equal pieces. We want to work with one loaf at a time so place one of the dough pieces on a floured work surface and the other back into the fridge.
• Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into seamless rounds and arrange them in one of your prepared bread tins. Repeat on the other half of the dough.
• Let the brioche breads proof for 7-10 hours at 75-78°F/24-26°C, until doubled in size.
• Preheat your oven to 360°F/180°C.
• Brush the tops of the breads with egg wash.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Cover with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly.

SOURDOUGH BUBBLE-TOP BRIOCHE

Steps:

• Mixing
• Mix together and cover the ingredients for the sweet stiff starter 6-12 hours before you plan to mix up your dough. The stiff starter will expand and get webby inside.
• Break the starter into pieces and mix it with all of the other dough ingredients except the butter. This can be done by hand/with a danish dough whisk or in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.
• Move the dough to a clean surface and add the cubed butter in two stages. Fold, smear and squeeze the butter into the dough until there are no more palpable pieces. Repeat with the second half of the butter. If you are using a stand mixer for this step, make sure your butter is room temperature. This will probably take about 10-15 minutes whether by hand or mixer.
• After the butter is incorporated, knead (or mix in the stand mixer) the dough for an additional 5-10 minutes. See this video for the churning technique I used. Make sure to scrape up your dough and rotate it periodically.
• Bulk Fermentation
• When the dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a bowl, cover and let it rise until it is almost doubled. This can be as little as 6 hours in warm temps and 12 hours in cool temps, or even longer if you refrigerate the dough. The dough in these photographs was at room temperature for 1-2 hours, refrigerated for 7 hours and then room temperature again for 7 hours.
• Shaping
• Scrape your dough out onto a clean surface and shape it into a square for easy dividing.
• While the dough rests for 5-10 minutes, grease one standard cupcake pan thoroughly, including the horizontal surfaces.
• Divide the dough into 12 pieces of about 90g each.
• Divide one 90g piece into three pieces (no need to use a scale), and roll each piece into a ball, placing the three balls in one cupcake hollow.
• Repeat with the remaining eleven pieces. I don't cut all 36 pieces at once to prevent the dough from drying out.
• Final Proof
• Place a large baking pan over the cupcake tray and let the dough proof for 2-4 hours. You can also use toothpicks poked into about six of the brioches to keep a plastic cover from sticking to the dough. The dough in these photographs proofed a little over 3 hours, bulging up from cupcake holder by 1/2-1 inch.
• Put the cupcake pan inside a baking sheet to make it more transportable and apply the egg wash to the brioches.
• Baking
• Preheat your oven to 400F with a rack in the center of the oven.
• Place the baking sheet/cupcake pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• Let the cupcake pan cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the brioches from the pan and serving.
• Note: Reheat by popping a brioche in the microwave for 10 seconds or in the toaster oven until you can smell butter in the air. I found that breaking the brioche into its three parts facilitated toasting.