Pierre Herme's Brioche Nanterre

Note – The recipe suggests crumbling the fresh yeast directly into the flour. The yeast has to be crumbled very finely.
- place the crumbled fresh yeast into a small bowl with two tblsp of warm water (just add a bit more flour because the dough will be stickier) OR
- use instant yeast (7g)

500g strong white flour (around 4.5 cups)
12.5g fresh yeast
50g caster sugar (fanny: this gives a brioche that is not sweet nor savoury, so if like me you like your brioche on the sweet side, I recommend you use 85 to 100g)
7 eggs
1 tsp salt
400g unsalted butter, at room temperature (1.7636981 cups)

for the glaze
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp caster sugar

Directions

Pour the flour into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Ass the crumbled fresh yeast and sugar. Mix on medium speed and add four eggs. Mix again then add the 3 remaining eggs, one at a time.
Once the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl, add the salt and the butter cut into small pieces. The dough is ready when it comes away cleanly from the sides of the bowl again.
Transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover with cling film and leave at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Lift the sticky dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Punch down the dough with your fist and put it back into the bowl. Cover with cling film again and place in the fridge for 1 1/4 hours. Press down the dough to check if it has risen agan, then remove it to the work surface and gently punch down to deflate.

Butter four 18 x 9cm loaf tins. Divide the dough into four equal pieces, then divide each portion into four. Roll each piece of dough into a ball on a non-floured surface. Set four balls closely side by side into a tin. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Leave at room temperature until it has doubled in size. Brush with glaze (just mix everything).
Using a pair of scissors, cut a cross in each ball. Bake into the oven, preheated to 180°C for 25 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.