Sourdough Brioche Loaf

Step 1

Warm milk to around 37C (you don't want it to be cold, but not too warm either). Add the milk and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix until the sugar is dissolved.

Step 2

Now add the sourdough starter, flour and eggs to the bowl. Mix into a rough dough and let it sit for around 30 minutes.

Step 3

Once the dough has sat for a little while, add the butter and salt and use the stand mixer to knead it really well. You want the butter to mix all the way through and the dough to become very soft and elastic.Depending on the type of mixer you use, this could take 3 minutes, it could take 20 minutes (see notes in the article above).

Step 4

Once the dough is silky and elastic (it can be slightly sticky) it should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough into a large bowl for bulk fermentation. Cover with plastic and set aside.

Step 5

Once the dough has risen a bit (it doesn't have to double, 50% rise is ok in this instance) you'll need to shape the brioche dough.

Step 6

Turn the dough onto the counter and divide into equally weighted balls of dough.

Step 7

Use the instructions in the post above for shaping (you can choose to shape as a loaf or into individual rolls).

Step 8

Once shaped, allow the dough to proof and get nice and puffy. This can take quite a while due to the butter, milk and eggs.

Step 9

Once the dough is puffy, it's time to bake!

Step 10

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Step 11

While the oven is preheating, mix an egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the dough generously with this egg wash.

Step 12

Bake the sourdough brioche at 180C/350F for around 30 minutes. This loaf will burn easily so keep an eye on it. If the top of the loaf starts to get to dark, cover the loaf with foil and turn the oven down to 160C to allow it to cook through without burning.

Step 13

Once the loaf is out of the oven, brush with lashings of butter while still in the pan. Cool on a wire rack.