Brioche also tends to have a light, cake-like crumb encased in a soft, shiny outer shell. You can certainly enjoy a brioche bun on its own. However, we personally think that a sprinkling of chocolate makes this opulent bake even more special.

Butter a 12-hole muffin tray or 2 x 6-hole brioche-shaped trays. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface and knead gently for 1 minute. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Butter: Unsalted and very soft. I like to cut it into small cubes and leave it out of the fridge a little while before making this recipe so it's nice and soft, and ready to be slowly added to the rest of the dough. Milk: use Full Cream / Whole Milk for the best flavour and texture. The milk needs to be lukewarm to help the yeast develop. Make sure it is not too hot though or it might kill the yeast.If using Active Dry Yeast, you will need to bloom (rehydrate) the yeast with the lukewarm milk and one tablespoon of sugar first. You can also do it with the instant yeast to make sure the yeast is alive, but it is not necessary. Flour your fingers very well then punch down the risen dough to deflate - it will feel more like a chocolate mousse or cake mix than a bread dough. Cover as before then place the bowl in the fridge and chill until the dough is firm and has doubled in size again - about 4 hours, although it can be left in the fridge overnight at this point. With mixer on medium speed, add butter, 1 tablespoon (14 grams) at a time, letting each piece incorporate before adding the next. Sugar: Caster Sugar (or fine white granulated sugar). It is divided in two - the first part goes in the milk and the second part with the flour. Once all the butter has been added, increase the mixer speed to medium high to high and knead for about 20 minutes or until very soft, stretchy and elastic. Yes, it's a long kneading time but the enriched dough requires longer to develop gluten.

Photo 11: Fold one third of the dough (either the right or the left side from the longer side of the rectangle) towards the centre. The dough will be quite soft so be careful when pulling it over. I love brioche and I have written about it on many occasions on this very blog. It took me a really long time to find what I consider to be the best brioche recipe and I truly believe that once you find a good base recipe, you may as well stop looking and just continue to work with that recipe for all of your flavour experiments. Like this chocolate chip and creme patissiere brioche. Yeast: I used Instant (dried) Yeast, which is a type of yeast that does not need to be rehydrated ("bloomed") before you add it to the rest of the ingredients, so it's one less step to take! See below for substitution. To shape the brioche, pinch off a hazelnut-sized ball of dough from each portion and roll into a smooth, neat ball. Shape the rest of the portion into a neat ball and gently drop into the muffin tray. Flour your index finger and push it into the centre of the ball of dough in the tray then place the smaller ball over this hole. Repeat with the remaining portions. Slip the tray into a large plastic bag, slightly inflate then leave to rise until the dough has doubled in size - 1 hour in a warm room or overnight in the fridge. This chocolate chip and creme patissiere brioche however stays soft and fluffy for a couple of days if stored in an airtight container. This is because of the creme patissiere filling which enriches it even further when cooking because it bakes into the dough.

A French baking project

Salt. A little salt helps to balance the sweet flavors in pastries. Just a little bit goes a long way. Today’s brioche buns are on the edge: with just a little experience, you can get a really good result by hand (this is what I did) but a stand mixer will spare you the extra effort. So if you are into serious baking too, a stand mixer is definitely to add on your (Christmas/Mother’s Day or whatever special occasion) baking gift list. Because brioche has a sweetness of its own, you may find that dark chocolate is the best way to balance the flavours. The high cocoa content gives semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate a depth of flavour that can temper the sweetness of enriched bread. When making chocolate brioche at home, look for chocolate with a cocoa percentage of 65% or higher, such as our 70% Dark Chocolate Slab. When the milk is bubbling, remove the vanilla pod and pour the milk over the egg mixture in a few additions until well combined.