Brioche de Nanterre

500g Flour

250g Butter (unsalted and softened)

8g Active Dry Yeast

10g Salt

15g Sugar

4 Eggs

100ml Milk

Measure all ingredients. Slightly heat the milk to 38C (100F) and combine with the yeast. Keep the proofing yeast in a warm area until it doubles in size. Be extremely careful not to overhead the milk and kill the yeast. Mix the salt and sugar with the flour. Sift the flour onto a working area and form a well in the middle. Mix eggs and proofed yeast and place in the middle of the flour well. Slowly mix from the center out pulling a bit of flour into the center to mix with the liquids until all liquids have been absorbed and you have a paste like dough. Knead the dough vigorously for roughly 15-20 minutes. Slowly incorporate chunks of the butter into the dough thoroughly working them in before adding any more. Once all the butter has been incorporated you should work/knead the dough vigorously for an additional 30 minutes until the dough is smooth. Roll into a ball, cover, and place in a warm humid area for 30-40 minutes so that it proofs. Flatten out proofed dough and roll back into a ball. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight. Remove dough from the fridge 1-2 hours before reworking. Cut dough into 2 pieces. Flatten out, and roll into cylinder (skin side out) for each piece. Cut each cylinder into four sections. Each section needs to be rolled into a ball. Always keep in mind that the skin side needs to be on top, and that each ball has to be of equal size. Place the balls into a regular buttered baking pan so that they fit snugly. Cover and place in a warm and humid area so that they proof. In the meantime preheat the oven to 400˚. Once the dough has doubled in size paint with egg wash and cut each ball parallel to the longer side of the mold making sure that the scissors reach all the way to the bottom of the pan (wetting the scissors keeps it from sticking to the dough). You should now have a rectangular pan with dough divisions. Place in the oven and turn after 15 minutes. Depending on the oven it should be ready within 30-40 minutes.Remove from oven, and place on a rack to cool.