Brioche

All four of Thomas Keller's books reprint the recipe for Jean-Louis Palladin's brioche. It's a brioche that's second-to-none.

Here is the recipe, copied from the internets:

The following is from Thomas Keller’s book Bouchon, recipient of a James Beard Book Award in 2005.

Jean-Louis Palladin was a close friend and one of the greatest chefs I’ve ever known. And he made some of the best brioche I’ve ever tasted. This is his recipe. Start it a day before you want to make it, as the dough has to rest overnight.

1/3 cup very warm water (110°–115°F)
One 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast (not quick-rising)
101⁄2 ounces (21⁄2 cups) cake flour
10 ounces (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
21⁄2 teaspoons fine sea salt
6 large eggs, at room temperature
20 tablespoons (10 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, 
at room temperature, plus butter for the pans.

Combine the water and yeast in a small bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes, then stir until the yeast is completely dissolved. Set aside.

Sift together the flours, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the eggs and beat for 1 minute at low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Slowly add the dissolved yeast and continue beating at low speed for 5 minutes. Stop the machine, scrape any dough off the hook, and beat for another 5 minutes.

Add about one-quarter of the butter cubes at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each addition. Once all the butter has been added, beat for 10 minutes more.

Place the dough in a large floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 3 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a generously floured work surface and gently work the air bubbles out by folding the dough over several times while lightly pressing down on it. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

The dough is now ready to shape or use in another recipe. Generously butter two 81⁄2-by-41⁄2 inch loaf pans. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. With floured hands, divide the dough in half and shape it into two rectangles that fit in the loaf pans. Place the dough in the pans.

Let the dough rise uncovered in a warm place until it is about 1⁄2 inch above the top of the pans, about 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bake the brioche in the center of the oven until it is well browned on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the brioche from the oven and immediately turn out onto a wire rack.

If serving immediately, let the breads cool for 10 minutes, then slice. If serving within a few hours, wrap the hot bread in aluminum foil and set aside at room temperature until ready to use. To freeze, wrap the hot bread in foil and promptly freeze. The bread can be kept frozen for up to 1 month; when ready to use, reheat (without thawing and still wrapped in the foil) in a 250°F oven until heated through, 20 to 25 minutes.

If using the brioche for croutons, let sit at room temperature uncovered to dry for a day.

Makes two loaves

Excerpted from Bouchon, Copyright 2004 by Thomas Keller. Used by permission of Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing Co., Inc., New York. All Rights Reserved.