TWD- Brioche

This TWD recipe is particularly nostalgic as it's one of the first I made from the book. I remember being a little nervous making it myself and especially nervous once I saw how hot my beloved KitchenAid was getting! I carefully held frozen veggies to the mixer and prayed she would be alright. I'm sure that wasn't remotely effectively but she's lived to mix many more batches of deliciousness and the brioche raisin snails (a favorite recipe to this day) were amazing. My husbands favorite Dorie remains the pecan honey sticky buns. You can't go wrong with brioche it appears.

I've posted the recipe before so I'll include it again. It's so easy to be intimidated by 'fancy' treats that end up being not nearly as difficult as I'd thought before. You can also see the recipe over at Tea and Scones (thanks for the awesome choice!)

By the way- a sweet friend helped me switch over to my own domain last night (I've only owned it for two years and done nothing... lame). If there's any hiccups please excuse them, but you should be able to get straight to AnneStrawberry.com now from my old blogspot address. Yay!

Golden Brioche Loaves (see the brioche raisin snails and pecan honey sticky buns here)
2 packets active dry yeast (or about 2 1/2 teaspoons per packet)
1/3 C. just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 C. just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 2/3 C. all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 C. sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

For complete directions for the Brioche Raisin (or in my case Chocolate) Snails or the Brioche loaves, check out these previous posts.