Pretty much every burger I’ve had recently that I’ve most enjoyed has been loaded into a brioche bun. This isn’t exactly fast food – you need to prepare the dough the night before you plan to bake – but I’d like to share the recipe because they are streets ahead of supermarket brioche.
Of course you don’t have to make them just for burgers – I saw the most luscious picture from Deb at Larder & Life of brioche French toast with a blueberry compote and crème fraîche, surely the most mouth-watering weekend brunch. I also like them simply split, toasted and buttered for breakfast.
Give them a go – just don’t do what I did the first time and make them too big. I had brioches almost as big as side plates and although you might say you can’t have too much of a good thing, it did mean the resulting burgers were super-sized.
They freeze well, carefully wrapped, and however you decide to serve them they’re a lovely thing to whip out to wow the family over Christmas.
Brioche Burger Buns (makes 10-12)
Ingredients:
500g strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting
7g salt
50g caster sugar
10g fast action yeast
5 medium eggs, lightly beaten + 1 for glazing
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 or 2 tspn white sesame seeds
1 or 2 tspn black sesame seeds
Method:
Put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir well. Add the yeast and stir again.
Add the milk and five eggs and mix on a slow speed for two minutes, then switch to a medium speed for another five or six minutes, until the dough is soft, shiny and elastic.
Add the butter a little at a time, mixing each time so it's well incorporated, and scraping down the sides of the bowl where necessary, four or five minutes in total.
Scrape the dough into a greased bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight for it to firm up.
Next day, tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over a few times to knock out the air. Form into 10 or 12 equal-sized rolls, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put in a big plastic bag to prove, about an hour to an hour and a half. (I used a bin liner with a coffee mug at each corner to keep the plastic off the dough.)
Pre-heat your oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. When the rolls have doubled in size, glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds.
Bake for around 20 minutes, until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Bear in mind that they may look done before they're cooked right through, they brown quickly because of the butter and sugar content.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Split and toast the cut side before adding the burgers and garnish – in this case, venison patties with portobello mushrooms, tomatoes and a lick of sweet chilli sauce.
