SYLVIANE NUCCIO

January 6 is a religious holiday in France.  Being a Catholic country, people celebrate what is called “La Fete des Rois”, or more officially, Epiphany, which is the celebration of the Magi to the infant Jesus.

This is the reason on January 6 people eat “la gallette des rois” where one or two little statues made of plastic which represent a king are inserted in the pie.  This is why it’s very important to beware of each bites one takes, because, one of the guests will find the king in his slice of gallette.

Even though la gallette is the pastry of choice for many on that celebration day, la brioche is also very popular and even preferred by some.

In this post, I wanted to share with you my brioche recipe with step by step pictures.

Ingredients For Two Medium to Large Size Brioches

500 grams of flour (4 cups)
10 grams of salt (a coffee spoon)
20 grams yeast (2 packets of active dry yeast)
5 eggs
250 grams of unsalted butter (at room temperature) (9 oz)
60 grams of sugar (3 full table spoons)
1 deciliter of water (2 cups)

Clean your kitchen counter thoroughly with dish detergent, rinse and dry it with paper towel.  fill half a glass of warm water (not hot) and pour the yeast in it. stir with a spoon a little and let it sit for a minute or two.

In the meantime, pour the flour on your working counter and make a hole in the center.  Add the eggs, salt and sugar in the center. Then add the yeast mixed with the rest of the  water on the opposite site of the salt ( if the salt is directly in contact with the yeast it will prevent the yeast to be active).  Mix very slowly without breaking the flour wall until all the ingredients are mixed together.

Start Working The Dough

Beat and fold the dough for about two minutes until it’s not so sticky anymore and start shaping up.  Then let it sit for about 1 or 2 minutes. 

After one or two minutes start working the dough in the same fashion for 7 minutes.

When 7 minutes have passed, start adding the butter cut in cubes and at room temperature so, it’s very soft.  Incorporate the butter in the dough piece by piece and work the dough for 3 to 5 minutes until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is a bit dryer.  Then,  let the dough sit for 1 or 2 minutes again before working it another for 7 minutes.

Let it Sit Overnight

Then, form a ball and put the dough in a bowl with a bit of flour at the bottom and cover with plastic film. Put in the refrigerator over night.

The next morning take the dough out of the refrigerator. spread a little bit of flour on your kitchen counter and cut the brioche dough in 6 pieces.

Shaping of the Brioche

Then take one piece at the time and flatten it with a pastry roll as shown on the pictures.

Then, with your hands shape the pieces in string shapes of the same length.

Then, start forming a thick braid with the three strings.  Make sure the ends stick together.

Let Sit the Shaped Dough For 3 Hours

Cover with a clean piece of cloth and let the shaped dough sit in room temperature (70+ F) for 3 hours.

Getting Ready to Bake

Preheat the over at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Use the yoke of an eggs to spread over the brioche with a kitchen brush just before putting in the oven.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Make sure you don’t over bake and open the oven once in a while to check. You can tell that the brioche is ready when it’s golden in color.

The Results

Bon appetit and enjoy your brioche anytime!

Please, leave your comments below if you enjoyed this!