How is it that brioche rises so high?
I just made this brioche and I'm very pleased with it.
I'm puzzled though. Where did all of this lift come from? The dough shaped in the pan for the final proof was tiny.
The recipe calls for a sponge made with 1/4 tsp yeast, 1 TBS sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 cup flour and 2 TBS of water. That can ferment for up to a day, but I only allowed a couple of hours. It was pretty unremarkable.
Then I sprinkled over the sponge just over 1 cup of flour, 2 TBS sugar, 1 1/4 tsp yeast and 1/2 tsp salt. That sat for an hour, then I kneaded it (for no longer than normal bread), adding 1/4 lb butter and 2 cold eggs. That rose until doubled, then I punched it down and left it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I formed the loaf in a normal loaf pan.
This is where I got nervous.
I didn't think there was any way that this tiny mass of dough was even going to rise to the top of the pan. It looked like a Twinkie!
A 2 hour proof did see the dough rise just to the top of the pan. 35 minutes at 350F caused it to get just massive (relative to normal bread).
How? The eggs aren't whipped, it doesn't call for a tremendous amount of sugar and it takes just over 1/2 the amount of yeast that would be found in typical sandwich bread. How did such a tiny amount of dough turn into such a big loaf?
Best Answer
http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/bread-baking-tips-making-the-most-of-your-oven/ This post suggests to me that the dough was moister on the outside as it was baking, which probably allowed the bread to spring more than a regular bread dough. I am guessing that this is a function of the eggs and butter that are in brioche dough. In reading about butter in Ruhlman's Twenty, some of this may be the butter coating the flour, and preventing the stronger gluten strands that might have kept the spring from happening.
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Does brioche rise a lot?
The container really doesn't need to be greased; this dough is rich enough. Let it rise, covered, for 60 minutes. It won't rise much; that's OK.What makes bread rise high?
Yeast turns the starches and sugars in flour to carbon dioxide gas which in turn inflates air bubbles in the bread causing it to rise. Since the yeast is also multiplying and producing more carbon dioxide the bread rises more and more.Why does my brioche not rise?
It may be that your yeast is (well) past its prime. That's the most likely reason I can think of that your dough didn't rise. Second reason could be that while mixing, the dough got too hot\u2014heat will kill yeast. Yeast dies somewhere around 130\xb0F, but really you want to keep it much cooler than that.What makes a brioche different to most breads?
Brioche is different to most breads because it's made with an enriched dough and tastes a little sweeter. . Because it's an enriched dough, you get that famous brioche texture of soft bread, the classic golden colour and quintessentially rich taste. It's bread made \u201cmagnifique\u201d.Michel Roux Brioche
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