French Brioche

Add in flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer and mix together

Add in eggs, vanilla extract and on a slow speed and with dough hook attachment, mix the ingredients for about 3-4 minutes.

Increase the speed to medium and knead for another 5-7 minutes or until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl.

The dough should not be warmer than 27 degrees. This will melt the butter faster when being added to the dough.

Add the room temperature butter to the dough and mix it in to the dough on a low speed. You might need to help incorporate the butter in to the dough with a spatula or spoon.

Continue kneading for about 3-5 minutes until the dough has a smooth and shiny surface

Wrap the dough in a piece a baking paper and let it rest at room temperature (18-24 degrees C) for about 30 minutes.

Then place the dough in the fridge for the first proof for about 12-14 hours.

Divide the dough in to 3 even pieces, wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

Flour your (cold and dry) hands and shape the first piece of dough in a log. Roll out the dough in a 35-40cm long stick.

Try to do this as quickly as possible to prevent the butter from melting; if it gets to warm/sticky, wrap in plastic and put it in the fridge for a couple of minutes.

Do this with all 3 paces of dough and then roll out further, to about 60 cm long, alternating between each dough.

Place the 3 long rolls of dough next to each other and pinch the tops together and start braiding.

Put the braid on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and connect the 2 ends to have a close circle.

Place a big container over the dough for the second rise (you can do plastic wrap but oil it first so that it won't stick to the dough).

Let it rise at room temperature (not higher then 24 degrees Celsius) for about 2-2.5 hours until double in size.

When that's finished, preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Gently brush the egg wash on the dough and place the sliced almonds all around, as much or as little as you like.

Bake the brioche at 170 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes and then at 160 degrees Celsius for 10-15 until the bread has a nice golden brown colour. You can cover the bread with aluminum foil if the top browns to quickly.

Let it cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile mix the icing sugar, honey and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix until you have a nice glaze

When the brioche is cooled down, drizzle the honey-lemon glaze over the brioche.