Happy Women’s Day!
This morning I wanted to celebrate with this delicious, energetic breakfast. One that will give my day a kick from the start and will leave me with a smile and a good mood all day long (so that I can forget for a day all the wrongs that women still have to face in many parts of the world).
Yes, that’s what Nutella does to me…and a beautiful sunny spring day 🙂 . Anyway, here the Nutella is just part of a bigger wonderful picture that includes a marvellous, soft, pain brioche. Can you smell french “patisserie” here? I do.
It is not the quickest sweet to make, it has to rise twice, for a total of good 3 hours, but I can assure you it is worth every minute you spend making it. Take it as some kind of yoga: you breath slowly and deep while kneading the dough, respect the rising time with no rush, stay in the moment and enjoy doing what you’re doing.
Making the dough is not hard at all. I used spelt flour, because lately I am trying to eat wheat-free every now and then. I did not use an electric mixer, since in my kitchen in Rome I do not have one. I always knead by hand…and I actually like it a lot.
There… and the first step is done. Now it’s the fun part: rolling the dough, spreading the nutella, rolling the dough again onto itself, cutting it and then braiding it in the shape of a pain brioche braid. And I know I shouldn’t say it…also licking the fingers after 😉 .
During the rising time you can relax and think of how nice it is to make your own pain brioche and how many ways you can enjoy it. While it’s in the oven, the smell in the whole house is incredible, it will make your head spin….
Enjoy your day and this pain brioche braid!
I don’t have kids, but if I had them, a piece of this pain brioche would be in their backpacks for their snack time, tomorrow. Only good ingredients, it’s like having a piece of bread with chocolate, but with a more elevated taste.
Prep Time:
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PinIngredients
- 300 g flour type 0 (I used spelt flour)
- 12 cl warm milk
- 12 g fresh or dried yeast (I used the fresh)
- 1 medium egg
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 40 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons Nutella
Instructions
- Put the flour in a bowl. Make a hole in the middle.
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk, then pour it into the hole in the center of the flour.
- Add sugar, salt, egg, butter and mix everything with your hands.
- Transfer the dough on a work surface and mix vigorously for at least 10 minutes, until it is very smooth and not sticky anymore. If you don’t want to knead by hand, you can put all the ingredients in the mixer. With the dough form a ball and place it in a salad bowl. Cover it with a clean cloth and let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature, protected from air draughts.
- When the dough has risen, press it down and quickly knead it a few more seconds, then roll it with a rolling pin trying to get a rectangle of dough about 3 mm thick. I roll it on parchment paper so I don’t have to transfer it after.
- Once the dough is stretched, spread a generous layer of Nutella, leaving about 2 centimeters of empty border all around.
- Roll the dough on itself lengthwise to form a roll, then place it in front of you and with a sharp knife cut the center lengthwise, being careful to start the cut leaving intact the edge farthest from you, so that, when you are finished cutting, the two halves of pasta are not completely separated but remain attached to one of the two borders for at least 5 cm.
- Braid the two edges without tightening and try to keep the dough with the Nutella on top.
- If you don’t have it already on parchment paper, line now a baking sheet with parchment paper, gently place the pain brioche braid and let rise for 1 more hour at room temperature, protected from air draughts.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180° C (375° F).
- Bake the pain brioche braid for 20-25 minutes, watching while cooking so that it doesn’t overcook.
- Allow the brioche to cool down on a rack before enjoying it.
Notes
You can brush the surface with egg white and add granulated sugar before putting it in the oven. I just like it simple, more like a “pain au chocolat”, so I just add a little dusting of icing sugar.
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4 Comments
Wow that looks just divine! 🙂
Thank you so much, June! I must say it tastes divine as well 🙂
After the dough has doubled, do I need to punch it down and kneed more? أيضا, do I need to let the dough rest after I dviide it into smaller pieces before I roll it out? I’ve tried a similar recipe and had very few actually puff up. It seems to work better the longer I let the rolled uncooked bread rest but my bread wanted to stick to the counter no matter how well I floured the surface. The parchment looks like a good idea.
No, you don’t need to punch it down and kneed more after the second rise. After the second rise it’s time to bake it in the oven. If you’re doing little pain brioche buns, I would divide the dough right away, let it rise once, then punch it down and kneed more, then spread the nutella, shape them the way you want, let them rise again and finally bake them in the oven. Hope I was clear enough 🙂 .