Brioche

What can I say other than this is one of my proudest achievements?! As I was saying to a friend yesterday, my inner Bree emerged for a brief tangible moment. The recipe itself isn’t too demanding, although time consuming, but I wouldn’t have embarked on this adventure without my trusty Kitchen Aid – far too much hard work and elbow grease involved otherwise. I fed an obscene amount of butter into the pastry, lump by lump, so you can’t pretend not to know what’s in there, and proudly watched it rise three times like a mother hen guarding her chicks. By the time I actually got round to baking them it was 2 am, as I’d been waiting for the latest episode of Feast (I’m a night owl anyway). The house smelt like a boulangerie, the cat and I both had our noses in the air, watching the huge snowflakes fall. Bliss! I had to test one there and then for experiments purposes of course and had to restrain myself from going back for more. Next time (oh there will be a next time I promise) I’ll add some dried fruit and some spices to add another dimension.
NB I couldn’t find bread flour, and used regular plain white flour instead. Also I didn’t add the salt to the glaze as these are for breakfast and not to go with ice cream as suggested.