Brioche feuilletée (flaky brioche)

114K 24.6 November 10^th 2013

For 2 brioches, you will need:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
49 min.	2 hours 30 min.	30 min.	3 hours 49 min.

1	Roll out 200 g butter in a sheet of plastic . Tap it with a rolling pin to shape into a square about 20x20 cm (8x8 inches). See the French croissants recipe for how to do this.
2	Roll 1 kg 250 g Brioche dough out into a large rectangle the same width as the butter and twice as long.
3	Take butter out of the plastic sheet and lay it on the brioche dough.
4	Fold the dough over and make a quarter turn.
5	Roll out again.
6	Scatter coarse sugar crystals (or crushed sugar cubes) over the dough and roll over these to embed them into the dough.
7	Fold the dough over in three.
8	Scatter more sugar over and roll in.
9	Fold the dough over in half. You have now given the dough a "double turn or "wallet turn". Cool the dough for 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in the freezer, then repeat steps 5 to 9 to give a second double turn.
10	Roll out the dough for the last time into a long rectangle 20 cm (8 inches) wide.
11	Cut in half lengthways.
12	Roll each piece of dough up like a snail and place in a tin or mould.
13	Glaze, cover with a plastic sheet and leave to rest for 2 hours at room temperature.
14	Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C). Glaze the brioche again and sprinkle with coarse sugar crystals.
15	Bake for about 30 minutes until the crust of the brioche is nice and golden brown. When you cut it open, you will see how the layers of butter have created air pockets. With the caramelized sugar around the outside, this is simply divine.