I’m amazed myself! Florek has ordered a jar of seriously indulgent and posh gianduja, 40% hazelnuts, so I thought it deserved something special to be put on. Paul Hollywood’s book came handy again, I started last night, as the dough must rest in the fridge overnight and this morning I shaped my brioche, proved again and baked.

It took 500g of strong white bread flour, 7 g of salt, 50g of caster sugar( I added some vanilla sugar, but I think the loaf could do with some more, myself), 10g instant yeast, 140 ml of warm milk, 5 whole eggs and as much as 250g of soft, unsalted butter. Butter was added slowly, bit by bit after about 6 minutes of initial mixing. Not sure if this job could be done without a standing mixer, the dough was seriously runny, needed to be scraped into a bowl for overnight resting. But this morning it came out of the bowl easily, butter nicely hardened. I made 2 loaves, one long tin and one round.

By the time Iz was taken to school and some morning chores were completed, the proving was done and I could bake the loaves in 190 degrees for about 25 minutes. The pastry stick was essential to check if they were baked, as they browned quickly.

The smell in the house was quite something. Brioche itself, like I said could be sweeter, but with gianduja it tastes great. Will try it toasted tomorrow morning.