Ingredients
Sponge
50ml warm milk
50g strong white flour
3g dried yeast
15g sugar
Dough
200g strong flour
2 eggs beaten and made up to 100g with milk
60g softened butter. (for ‘normal' brioche use 125g)
Method
Mix all the sponge ingredients together and leave, covered, for an hour until puffedup.
Add puffed up sponge to the flour and eggs, mix and work for about 10 minutes to achieve a smooth dough (add a drop more milk if you feel the dough is stiff). Knead softened butter into dough and work for another 15 minutes until dough is smooth and silky. Do not panic at the mess you create here, just keep at it until the dough caves in and behaves normally. Or you could work it in a mixer with a dough hook and miss out the panic.
Leave for an hour and a half to rest. Divide dough into 8 pieces and form each piece into a roll. You can pop all eight into a greased loaf tin or into individual brioche cases. Brush lightly with beaten egg or just with milk and leave, covered for another hour to double in size. Bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.