My lovely German friend Jessica has given me yet another yummy recipe to try. This twisted Nutella brioche is so very good. The brioche itself is a lightly sweetened, enriched dough, which would be perfectly delicious on it’s own, but add some Nutella to it and it’s out of this world. I decided to bake this brioche in my new cast iron pan, so as to justify why I bought the pan in the first place. Jessica makes her Nutella brioche into a beautiful, decorative star. I decided to go a little easier on myself and just twist it into a beautiful mess of wonderfulness. It is now one of my most favorite recipes.
Brioche is an enriched yeast bread that contains a high percentage of eggs and fat. This particular brioche does not call for a lot of eggs (only 2), but it does have a high percentage of butter. It’s important to knead the dough for about 10 minutes before you add the butter. Butter inhibits gluten structure, so kneading the dough without the butter first helps strengthen the gluten. Those are my son’s hands, by the way. Mine aren’t that tiny.
Once the dough is smooth begin to knead in the softened butter, one tablespoon at a time. You cannot tell in the photo below, but this kneading process gets very messy. Just go with it. You can clean up later. Once the butter is all incorporated, place the dough in a clean bowl, and cover with towel. Now go wash your hands.
When the dough has doubled in bulk, and punched down it is ready to be rolled out. Roll out to a rough rectangle (about 12″ x 8″) and then spread with 2/3 cup of Nutella.
Roll it up length-wise, and then slice the log down the middle.
Twist the two halves together. This gets messy too. Just go with it.
Finally, form a circle with the twisted dough, and place in the buttered cast iron pan. Very loosely cover with a towel and allow to rise a second time for about 30 minutes.
Brush with an egg wash and then bake in a 350 degree F. oven for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the brioche appears golden brown.
For cast iron pan maintenance information, check out my post A Care Guide For Cast Iron Skillets.
- 4 and ½ cups (563 g) All-Purpose Flour
- ¾ cups plus 1 teaspoon (90 g) Sugar
- 2 tsp. Salt
- 1 pack Active Dry Yeast
- 1 cup (250 ml) Milk
- 2 Large Eggs
- ½ cup (113 g) Unsalted Butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- 2/3 cup Nutella
- Egg Wash (1 Egg mixed with 1 TBS Cream)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
- Heat milk to 110 degrees F., and then pour in yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, and then stir to combine.
- Stir the two eggs, and milk/yeast mixture into the dry ingredients until it all comes together.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth, about 10 minutes. Finally knead in a pat of butter at a time. This kneading process becomes very messy. Just keep kneading until all of the butter is incorporated. A dough scraper is very handy during this step.
- Place dough in a clean bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise until double in size, about 2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Butter a cast iron pan thoroughly.
- Punch down the dough to get out all of the air. On a lightly floured surface, silicone mat, or parchment paper, roll the dough out to a 12” by 8” rectangle. Spread the Nutella all around leaving a 1 inch border. Roll the dough length-wise to create a log.
- With a sharp knife that has been greased with butter, or sprayed with cooking oil, cut the middle of the log length-wise. Twist each half of the log together, and then circle the twisted dough. Place in the middle of the cast iron pan (it will spread out when baked). Loosely cover with towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove towel and brush egg wash on the brioche dough that is not covered in Nutella. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the brioche looks golden brown.
- Cool in cast iron pan, and then gently lift brioche out. Place on a nice plate, and enjoy while still warm!
- Cast Iron Pan, or 9-inch cake pan
- Thermometer (to check the temperature of the heated milk)
- Dough scraper
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper, or silicone mat
- Dish towel
