I’m back from my holidays, and busy catching up on Bake Off (how long was that baked Alaska really out of the oven…?) and also the lovely news that Mac and Lottie have been shortlisted in the Best Couple category of the UKYA Book Blogger Awards!

If you agree that they deserve the title ‘Best Couple’ (if only for Mac’s double chocolate chip brownies…) then please, go vote for them here!

But, back to Baking Through the Book. Next up is a staple in our house, and the bread that Mac is assigned to make on Bake Club’s day of work experience at the White Hill Bakery – Brioche.

Brioche is a wonderful breakfast bread. The recipe in the book is for a plain brioche loaf but, since it’s Holly’s favourite, I thought I’d add some chocolate chips for an even more decadent loaf!

It is, however, a very, very wet dough – this is one recipe that is definitely made easier by using a mixer! Still, it can be made by hand – even with a five year old helper – and it’s still just as yummy. You just need to use plenty of flour on your hands and surface when kneading, to stop it sticking. Be careful, though – too much flour will make the brioche tough.

 

Chocolate Chip Brioche

Ingredients

• 100g butter
• 250g plain flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 7g fast action yeast
• 100g chocolate chips
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk to glaze

Method

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs

Add the caster sugar, salt, chocolate chips and yeast and stir in

Add the eggs and mix to form a soft dough

Cover and chill for 20 minutes, the knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes

Drop into a greased 900g loaf tin, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for around 2 hours, or until doubled in size

Heat the oven to 200ºC / fan 180ºC / gas mark 6

Brush the top with the egg yolk then sprinkle over a little sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown

If the loaf sounds hollow when tapped, it’s done

Tip out onto a wire rack and leave to cool (or eat it warm like we did!)