“I grew up with stories of my late grandmother, Emily, whom I never got to meet, baking a fragrant mastic brioche with bright red– coloured eggs baked in the middle as an Easter treat for my father and his siblings when they were young in Bethlehem. I remember enjoying such brioches sent to us by family friends from Jerusalem. The smell and taste are so evocative. I started making the mastic brioche without the egg, all year round. My favorite way to enjoy this is with a bit of butter and quince jam,” writes Fadi Kattan.
Makes 1 loaf
WHAT YOU NEED
2½ teaspoons dry baker’s bread yeast
80 g / 6½ tablespoons sugar
200 ml / ¾ cup plus
2 tablespoons lukewarm milk
500 g / 4 cups plus
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
2 eggs
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground mastic
100 g / ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small cubes
For the egg wash
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
WHAT TO DO
In a small bowl, mix together the yeast, 40 g / 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and 50 ml / 3½ tablespoons of the milk. Set aside until it foams, about 10 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, the remaining sugar, and the remaining milk. Mix at low speed until the ingredients are combined. Add the eggs, orange blossom water, salt, and mastic. Continue to mix at low speed for 8 minutes. Increase the speed and beat for another 5 minutes. Add the butter and beat for another 8 minutes.
Scoop out pieces of dough with your hand and form into rounded shapes. Set aside on a lightly floured work surface. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
Grease a 23 cm / 9-inch round cake pan. Press the rounded pieces gently to remove the gas that has formed. Put the dough pieces in the pan, cover, and let rise for 45 to 60 minutes, until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
To make the egg wash, mix the egg yolk and milk until well blended. Brush over the dough without pressing on the tops.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top of the brioche is brown. Lightly cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper and continue to bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the brioche sounds hollow when tapped and reads 90°C / 190°F in the centre with an instant-read thermometer.
Transfer the brioche from the cake pan to a rack and leave to cool before digging in.
Kaw
11 November
There seems to be a step missing. When and how do you incorporate the yeast, milk and sugar mixture after you set aside in the first step?