Ballymaloe brioche

Makes 15-20 individual brioches or 2 large ones in loaf tins

You will need:

• 25g fresh yeast, or 12g dried yeast

• 50g caster sugar

• 65ml tepid water (roughly body temperature)

• 4 eggs, beaten

• 450g strong white flour, plus a little extra for finishing the individual brioches

• A large pinch of salt

• 225g soft butter, plus 25g melted butter for greasing the tins

For the egg wash, you will need:

• 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon milk

1 You will also need 15-20 individual brioche moulds (or 2 x 12-hole muffin trays) or 2 loaf tins. Add the yeast and the caster sugar to the tepid water, and put the mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer. Allow to stand for five minutes. Add the beaten eggs, the strong white flour and the pinch of salt, and mix to a stiff dough with the dough hook.

2 When the mixture is smooth, beat in the soft butter in small pieces. Don’t add the next piece of butter until the previous piece has been completely assimilated. This kneading stage should take about 20 minutes. The finished dough should have a silky appearance. It should come away from the sides of the bowl, and when you touch the dough, it should be damp but not sticky. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it and leave it to rest it overnight in the fridge.

3 The following day, prepare your brioche moulds, muffin trays, or tins, whichever you are using, by brushing them well with the melted butter. Then, working quickly, remove the dough from the fridge, and knock it back by folding it in on itself. It is crucial you work quickly, otherwise the butter will begin to melt and the dough will be too sticky to handle.

4 If your kitchen is very warm, when you’re making individual brioches, keep half of the dough in the fridge while you work with the rest of it. If you are making individual brioches, weigh the dough into 50g pieces and roll these into balls. Use the side of your hand to roll each ball of dough in to a teardrop shape — do this by rolling with the pressure slightly off centre — it should resemble a bowling skittle. Put the dough, heavy-end first, into the buttered brioche moulds or holes of the muffin trays. Push the ‘little hat’ of dough towards the centre, leaving it just protruding above the body of the dough. Dip the thick end of a chopstick in a little flour and push it down through the dough, almost to the bottom — this may sound strange, but at the cookery school, we have found it is the best method to keep the ‘little hat’ in place. Brush the top of each brioche gently with the egg wash.

5 If you’re making loaves of brioche in two loaf tins, divide the dough in half. Shape one half of the dough into a loaf by rolling it the length of the loaf tin, then put the dough in the buttered loaf tin, with the smoother side facing up. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough. Brush the tops of the loaves with egg wash.

6 Allow the shaped brioche loaves to prove on your kitchen counter for 45 minutes to 1 hour until they have almost doubled in size.

7 While the brioches are proving, preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas 4.

8 Brush the brioches very gently again with egg wash and bake the individual ones in the centre of the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until they are a deep golden colour and sound hollow when they are tapped on the base.

9 If you are making large brioches, they will take approximately 40-50 minutes to cook in the preheated oven. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.

10 Take the individual brioches or the brioche loaves out of the tins and place them on a wire rack to cool for just a couple of minutes before serving.