Brioche Dough

Recipe:

Brioche dough is a decadent, enriched dough created by patiently working together strong bread flour mixed with large amounts of butter and eggs. The possibilities with this rich French dough are so many as it can be transformed into a great variety of delicious recipes. Although brioche is a very versatile yeast dough, it is in fact a bread rather than a pastry. As such, it could be easily argued that the result isn't just any average bread, but a true, delicate pastry. Let's get started!

Supplies:

Mixer
Food storage container with lid
Flexible rubber spatula
Strong plastic spatula

Ingredients:

Pre-ferment:

35 grams water
65 grams bread flour
1/8 teaspoon yeast

Dough:

150 grams All Purpose flour
350 grams bread flour
80 grams sugar (take away 50 grams when making savory brioche)
7 grams instant yeast
8 grams salt
300 grams whole eggs chilled
1 teaspoon vanilla (omit if making savory brioche)
Zest of half an orange or half a lemon (totally optional, but delicious when making cornetti or doughnuts. Omit when making savory brioche)
15 grams honey or maple syrup
9 grams rum
25 grams chilled heavy cream
300 grams cold butter cut into 1" cubes, but still pliable

Directions:

For the preferment, several hours before making the final dough, mix together a small amount of water, flour and yeast until a small homogeneous dough ball is formed. With the help of a sharp knife cut a cross on top of the dough ball and cover with lid or plastic wrap. Allow to rise for several hours, or overnight in the fridge.
On the day of preparing the brioche dough, remove the pre-ferment from the refrigerator if that is where it was stored.
Place the flour into the bowl of the mixer and disperse the salt into it. Doing this will prevent the yeast to be in direct contact with the salt. Now add the sugar and the yeast and stir all ingredients together.
Add the vanilla, orange zest, honey, Rum, as well as the heavy cream to the bowl.
Crack the eggs in a separate bowl and set aside.
With the dough hook attachment, begin working the dough on low speed, while adding the eggs one at a time as well as pieces of the pre-ferment. Keep mixing until all the preferment and eggs have been added, and the flour is well incorporated. The dough will appear to be very sticky and quite moist.
Turn the speed to medium high for about 10-15 minutes. Occasionally stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, and continue mixing. When the dough begins to come away from the walls of the bowl, it is time to incorporate the butter. Continue working the dough on medium high speed, adding the cubed butter (cold but pliable) a little at a time, making sure that each piece is fully incorporated before adding the next.
After all the butter has been fully incorporated, knead the dough on low speed for an additional 5 minutes. As soon as the dough no longer sticks to the walls of the bowl, but really holds onto the dough hook, it can be removed from the bowl.
Remove the dough and place it on a lightly flour dusted surface to bring together, as shown in the video. Doing this will further encourage strength in the dough.
Place the dough in a bowl or food safe container and cover with a lid or a damp cloth. Allow the dough to rise for 1.5 hour on the countertop or until doubled in size.
Before transferring the dough into the refrigerator overnight, deflate the dough by punching it down and once again reshaping it into a ball. Transfer the container into the refrigerator overnight. Brioche dough can also easily be frozen for later use. Enjoy!