Step 1 – FEED STARTER/MAKE THE LEVAIN
- Take 120g of your sourdough starter and feed it 120g bread flour + 40g water + 20g sugar
- Wait for it to 3x in size –it will be ready when the top stops doming and starts to crater a little
Step 2 – MIXING
- In your stand mixer, mix ingredients (except the butter) just until you get a windowpane
- Then add in the butter. Mix until you get a windowpane (mixer at speed 2 for around 10-16 min)
Step 3 – BULK FERMENTATION/1st RISE
- Roughly shape the dough into a taut ball and put it in a greased bowl
- Bulk proof for 4hrs at 74F (gauge time if your room is cooler or warmer)
Step 4 – COLD PROOFING/2nd RISE
- Degas and cold proof in your fridge overnight (~8hrs)
Step 5 – SOURDOUGH SHAPING
- This is where you have many options
- sourdough brioche dough is so versatile, you can make any sourdough sweet bread out of this recipe
- the difference is in the shaping
- and the shaping dictates how long to bake and how high the temp
For example:
- Dinner rolls – divide the dough into equal balls and shape into buns
- Burger buns – divide the dough into larger balls and shape into buns
- Hot dogs – divide the dough into equal parts and roll tightly into logs, pinch the seam
- Challah – divide the dough into 3-5 parts, roll into logs, and then braid the dough
- Donuts – roll the dough into a rectangle, punch out circles with a cookie cutter, final proof and then fry the dough
Step 6 – FINAL PROOFING/3rd RISE
- After shaping, final proof (room temp) the dough on the vessel it will be baked in
- Cover lightly because we don’t want it to dry out
- Final proof this for 4-6hrs at room temp (74F),
Step 7 – SOURDOUGH BAKING
- Time to bake when it’s risen and jiggly, *almost* doubled in size
- Egg-wash and bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for 20-35 min (meaning, check on it every 5-10 min at the 20 min mark)
- Like I said above, baking times will depend on your shaping,
- the bigger the baking vessel, the longer it will take to bake (like a loaf pan)
- the bigger the shaping of the dough, the longer it will take to bake (like challah, sandwich bread, babka, etc.)
- the shorter and wider the baking vessel, the shorter it will take to bake (like a sheet pan)
- the smaller the shaping of the dough, the shorter it will take to bake (small dinner rolls, crescent rolls, etc.)
- you as the baker will have to gauge how long to bake by checking on the oven around the 20 min mark
- depending on what you are making, baking times vary between 20 min to 50 min –it just depends on what you are baking