Brioche

Now keep in mind that this bread requires a cold rise, so it takes FOREVER!!! The amount of time it took was quite a bit longer then stated in the recipe. But I think I may have had it a little colder then necessary. But it was all worth it because it is SO good! I'm one of those people that makes a lot of sound effects when I'm eating something that is just amazing, and there were a lot of sound effects this morning while I was eating my toast with an egg on top.

Note that the recipe wants you to use a mixer, but there are also directions if you are doing it by hand and I will include those. Also be sure to pull out 6 eggs and 2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter in advance, they need to be at room temperature. The butter needs to be cut into small pieces and then softened.

So to begin: 1 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast, 1/4 a cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt. Add 1/2 a cup of hot water (120 F) and beat until smooth. About 2 minutes.

Add the six eggs, one at a time, beating after adding each one. Then add two more cups of flour, half a cup at a time.

Add the pieces of butter several pieces at a time.

Beat until smooth. With my hand mixer and little dough hooks it took 2-3 minutes. If you are using a stand mixer it should take around 30 seconds.

Then add another 1 1/2 cups of flour, a little at a time. Beating on low speed while doing this. The dough will be a lot like batter not like your traditional bread dough.
Scrape the dough with a spatula into a well greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let raise in a cool room until doubled. About three hours.
Now this is where it was different for me. I put the bowl down in the basement and I think it may have been colder then necessary because four hours went by and it wasn't anywhere near double. I think it may have been about a third of the way there, but it was after midnight and I was about the turn into a pumpkin (bahahaha) so I went ahead and just put it in the fridge for the 12 hour raise there.

So yes, place in the fridge overnight (or for 12 hours)

The next day sprinkle flour over your work surface, take the dough and cut it in half. (Work quickly because if it starts to soften it will be impossible to work with, if it does start to get soft put it back in the fridge until cold again!) I used a rolling pin to roll each piece into a rectangle. Then roll up tightly, kinda like cinnamon rolls without all the fillings. (Oh and by the way, this type of dough is highly recommended for cinnamon rolls!!). Place in two greased 9x5 inch pans. Raise until double, once again in a cool room. I put them in my bedroom closet, haha, the things you do to keep them from little fingers! I covered them with the same plastic wrap I used from the bowl.
The recipe says it takes 1 1/2-2 hours to double. Mine took a record breaking 6 hours...yeah. Next time I will definitely re figure the cool room concept! I think if I did the raising a little better it would have had a much nicer shape.

Bake at 375 F for 35-40 minutes. Immediately place on a cooling rack.

Mmmm, I was completely amazed at how soft this bread was, even the crust! It was super easy to slice and tastes amazing. I can't wait to try it again!

Monday February 17th
Oopsie! I was just looking through this post and realized I didn't include directions for making this by hand. So here goes:
Put all but a half a cup of the flour in a pile on your work surface and make a well in the center. That would be four cups of flour.
Into the well place the yeast (1 packet or 1 tablespoon active dry), 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 a cup of warm water. Stir carefully to dissolve the yeast, then let sit until foamy.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 teaspoons of salt around the rim of the well.
 Add the 6 eggs (at room temp) into the yeast mixture and blend well with your fingers. Then gradually bring all the flour, etc. into the mixture as well, also using your fingertips.  The dough will be very sticky, but elastic.
Lifting a little at a time slap the dough onto the work surface to knead the dough. Knead quickly like this for 8-10 minutes. Gradually adding the remaining 1/2 a cup of flour as needed.
To incorporate the butter: divide the softened butter into four equal amounts.  Place each portion on one corner of the dough. Hold four fingers stiff and slap the butter until malleable (able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking)  Quickly ( the butter MUST stay cold!If it starts to melt put the dough in the fridge for a few minutes) smear the butter into the mass of dough, then knead quickly to incorporate into the dough. Don't slap or crash anymore after the butter is added. This process shouldn't take more then 5 minutes. 
Then follow the instructions for raising and baking for the original recipe.