Cream Brioche Bread

Ingredients

• 500 g Manitoba flour
• 150 ml Fresh liquid cream (Unwhipped; plant-based cream is also suitable. Do not use cooking cream.)
• 100 ml Milk (Part for the dough and part for brushing; the amount for brushing is not specified.)
• 100 g Sugar
• 1 Egg (Lightly beaten.)
• 6 g Dry active yeast (Alternatively, 10 g fresh yeast.)
• Vanilla essence (Amount not specified.)
• 40 g Butter (Softened. Alternatively, 30 ml vegetable oil.)
• Salt (A pinch.)
• 1 Egg yolk (For brushing.)
• Powdered sugar (For dusting; amount not specified.)

Steps

1. 1

   Gently heat the cream and milk: they should be lukewarm, not hot, so as not to compromise the yeast.

2. 2

   In a bowl, combine the Manitoba flour, dry yeast, sugar, and vanilla essence. Mix briefly.

3. 3

   Pour the lukewarm cream and milk into the bowl. Mix and begin kneading with a wooden spoon.

4. 4

   Add the salt, softened butter, and lightly beaten egg.

5. 5

   Knead thoroughly until you obtain an elastic dough ball. You can use a stand mixer, following the same order for adding the ingredients.

6. 6

   Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in the turned-off oven with the light on until doubled in size: the recipe indicates approximately 3–4 hours.

7. 7

   Take the risen dough and deflate it with your hands.

8. 8

   Transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Divide it into 9 pieces of approximately 70 g each; alternatively, make 12 pieces of approximately 50 g each.

9. 9

   Work each piece with your hands and shape them into balls.

10. 10

    Arrange the balls next to one another in a rectangular baking pan lined with parchment paper.

11. 11

    Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise again for 1 hour.

12. 12

    Brush the surface of the brioche rolls with the egg yolk and a little milk.

13. 13

    Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 180 °C for approximately 20 minutes.

14. 14

    Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

15. 15

    Finish with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Notes

It stays soft for 2–3 days when kept under a cake dome. For a variation, chocolate chips can be added; for a gluten-free version, the source suggests rice flour or a gluten-free flour blend. The vegetable oil alternative is specified as 30 ml instead of the butter. The number and weight of the pieces are approximate, according to the two options provided by the source.

Nutrition per serving

• breakfast
• sweet
• yeasted
• brioche
• vegetarian
• oven-baked
• Italian cuisine