Recipe: One-size-fits-all enriched bread dough, plus a Potica filling
An easy, buttery bread dough-- plus, a fav winter baking project of mine
Last year I published a brioche bread recipe for making cardamom buns, Maritozzi, and more. Brioche is a magical thing, and will always create the most tender dough possible, but it can also be tricky and temperamental: the butter needs to be the right temp, a high power mixer is required (I’ve burnt out a motor on an old stand mixer making it recently), and there are multiple stages of mixing. Sometimes, a simple enriched bread dough can achieve similar results with half the work.
“Enriched” just means that fat gets mixed into the dough to tenderize it, and just about all bread cultures have their own recipe: lard in Mexico and parts of England; butter (and a cooked mix of flour and milk for an extra soft crumb—perhaps a recipe for this another time) in Japanese Milk Bread; more butter in pretzel doughs, brioche, panettone, and so many other iconic doughs.
I’m tapping into my own Swedish ancestry for this version, a one-size-fits-all enriched dough that you can use as a simple stand-in for anything you can use brioche for, from cardamom buns to doughnuts to Semla (look it up! It’s almost Semla season :)). This one is adapted from an old family recipe, but with a bit more liquid and a bit less yeast, to allow for a slower ferment and a more tender dough. What makes it easier is that you melt the butter with the milk, then mix together everything in one fell swoop. It comes together in a couple minutes, rises quickly, and can be used that day or, better yet, chilled overnight in the fridge and used the next day. It also freezes very well, meaning you can keep some on hand for a rainy day a couple months down the road.
A little bonus for paid subscribers awaits at the end of the post: a recipe for Potica. This is an Eastern European bread in which either a walnut filling or a poppy seed filling is rolled up in thin layers of enriched bread dough in basically equal proportions. That means a whole lot of filling in every slice, making this one of my very favorite winter baking projects. I’ve generally preferred to make this one with this style of enriched dough instead of brioche, in fact: when such a large amount of filling is used, this sturdier dough can hold up a bit better in the final product.
Enriched Bread Dough
Ingredients (makes 20-24 buns, or about 4 loaves of Potica):
11 fl oz/334 grams (1 ¼ C plus 1 Tbl) milk
5 oz/150 g (1 stick plus 2 ½ Tbl) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons finely ground cardamom seeds (optional—use these if you are making cardamom buns)
6 g (about 2 teaspoons) instant yeast
1 egg + 1 yolk
4 ½ oz/125 g (1/2 C plus 2 Tbl) sugar
1 tsp salt
1 lb 10 oz/760 g (5 ½ C) all-purpose or bread flour, plus extra for dusting
Egg Wash: 1 egg white
Directions:
Combine the milk, butter, and ground cardamom (if using) in a small pan and heat until the butter has melted. Let cool to just above room temperature.
Transfer the liquid to a mixing bowl. Add the egg plus the yolk, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast and mix until all the flour is moistened. If using a stand mixer: mix until everything comes together, let rest 1 minute, then mix on medium speed for about 3 to 4 minutes. If mixing by hand, mix until everything comes together, let sit for 5 minutes (it’ll be too wet to mix by hand right away), then pour out onto a countertop, lightly dusted with flour, and knead for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth, shiny and elastic. Return to the bowl and cover the dough with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel for 60 to 90 minutes or until doubled in size.
If using the same day, punch down the dough and proceed to make whatever kind of baked good you have in mind (consult this earlier post for some ideas, or this one for cardamom bun instructions). Otherwise, punch down, wrap, and chill in the fridge for up to two days, or the freezer for up to three months.