A bakery brioche formula on La Finoise T55 runs 100 percent flour, 50 percent whole egg, 12 percent milk, 12 percent sugar, 2 percent salt, 1.5 percent osmotolerant instant yeast and 50 percent butter, mixed to full gluten development before the butter goes in and retarded overnight before shaping. That is the classic two-to-one flour-to-butter brioche; the same table gives a rich column at 65 percent butter for a brioche mousseline or a holiday loaf. Below are both in grams for a 1 kg test batch and a 5 kg bakery batch, the mixing order that keeps the butter in emulsion, and shaping for Nanterre loaves, brioche à tête and buns.
The flour is La Finoise T55 from our Grands Moulins de Paris collection, stocked in Brockton, MA in 25 kg bags and shipping nationwide, with next-day UPS Ground in Massachusetts.
Shop this formula: La Finoise T55 (25 kg), SAF Gold instant yeast for the sugar in the dough, whole milk powder if you mix on water, and fine sea salt. For a taller, richer loaf, swap in Gruau Rouge T45.
La Finoise T55 is the all-purpose flour in the Grands Moulins de Paris range, and brioche is the job the mill names first for it. Its product sheet lists brioche Nanterre, mini brioche, gâteau des rois, baba, savarin, pain au chocolat and croissants, and notes that the flour carries inclusions such as raisins, chocolate and candied fruit. The ingredient line on our bag adds wheat gluten and ascorbic acid, which is how a miller builds strength into a white T55, and strength is the whole question in brioche. A dough carrying half its flour weight in butter and half in egg has to build enough gluten, before the fat goes in, to rise into a domed loaf rather than a dense, cakey one. Our guide to French flour types explains why a T number says nothing about strength and where each of the four flours belongs.
If you want the tallest possible loaf, or you are loading the dough with fruit and chocolate, Gruau Rouge T45 is the step up: the mill lists it at 12.1 g protein per 100 g with added wheat gluten and states that it is made for doughs rich in butter, eggs and sugar. Use it at the same percentages.
| Ingredient | Standard, baker's % | Rich, baker's % | 1 kg flour, standard (4 Nanterre loaves) | 5 kg flour, standard (20 loaves) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Finoise T55 | 100 | 100 | 1,000 g | 5 kg |
| Whole egg | 50 | 55 | 500 g (about 10 large) | 2.5 kg |
| Whole milk, cold | 12 | 8 | 120 g | 600 g |
| Sugar | 12 | 12 | 120 g | 600 g |
| Fine sea salt (Cargill) | 2 | 2 | 20 g | 100 g |
| SAF Gold instant yeast | 1.5 | 1.5 | 15 g | 75 g |
| or fresh yeast | 4 | 4 | 40 g | 200 g |
| Butter, 82% fat, cold and cubed | 50 | 65 | 500 g | 2.5 kg |
| Total dough | 227.5 | 243.5 | about 2,275 g | about 11.4 kg |
The ratios are old ones. A two-to-one flour-to-butter ratio is the common brioche, three-to-two is the rich version, and a four-to-one pain brioché is the economy loaf; the Roux brothers' formula went to 700 g of butter per kilo of flour. The 50 percent egg is what makes the crumb yellow, fine and shreddable. Counting the water in the eggs, the standard column sits near 50 percent effective hydration, which is a soft dough at room temperature and a firm, workable one straight from the refrigerator.
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, eggs and cold milk on low for about 6 minutes until there is no dry flour, then on second speed for 6 to 8 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic and pulls a thin windowpane. This is the full development a lean bread would get, and it has to happen now: once butter coats the gluten it stops forming. Corman's professional brioche method uses the same order, 6 minutes on first speed and 6 on second before any butter.
Add the cold, cubed butter a handful at a time on low speed over 8 to 10 minutes, waiting until each addition disappears. The dough will collapse into a shaggy, greasy mess partway through; keep mixing. Finish on second speed for 4 to 5 minutes until it turns glossy, gathers around the hook and clears the bowl. Target 24 to 26°C off the hook. Above 27°C the butter starts to melt out of the dough rather than staying emulsified in it, which shows up later as a greasy crust and an oily pan.
Bulk ferment 45 to 60 minutes at room temperature until the dough has grown by about half, then fold it once in the tub to tighten it. Flatten it into a tray, cover, and retard 8 to 24 hours at 4°C. The retard does three jobs: it firms the butter so the dough can be divided and balled, it builds the buttery, slightly tangy flavor a same-day brioche lacks, and it puts the mix and the bake on different days. Divide straight from the cold and work quickly; the dough softens within 15 minutes on a warm bench.
Divide into 70 g pieces and ball them tightly. Set eight balls in two rows of four in a greased 20 by 10 cm loaf pan; a 1 kg batch fills four pans. The balls fuse in the proof and bake into the pull-apart loaf with the scalloped top. Scale to 60 g balls for a slightly smaller loaf if your pans run short.
For the fluted-tin Parisian brioche, divide at 75 g and split each into a 60 g body and a 15 g head. Ball the body, press a finger through the center to open a well, ball the head into a teardrop and set its point into the well. The tête is a shape that only works on cold dough; a warm ball slumps and the head slides off in the oven.
Divide at 55 g for burger and sandwich buns, ball tightly, and set on parchment-lined trays 6 cm apart. Flatten each slightly with the palm before proofing. The same dough at 45 g makes slider buns and at 35 g makes dinner rolls.
Proof 90 to 120 minutes at 26 to 28°C with humidity, until the dough has doubled and a fingertip dent fills back slowly. Keep the proofer under 30°C; brioche at 50 percent butter will weep fat above that. Egg wash once before proofing and again just before the bake, with a whole egg beaten with a pinch of salt, for the deep mahogany shine.
Bake at 175°C. Nanterre loaves and brioche à tête take 25 to 30 minutes; Corman's professional method bakes its loaf-sized pieces at 175°C for about 25 minutes in a convection oven. Buns take 12 to 15 minutes. The crust colors early because of the sugar and the egg wash, so pull by temperature rather than by eye: 92 to 95°C at the center. Unmold loaves immediately and cool on a rack, or the sides steam soft.
The rich column, with 65 percent butter and 55 percent egg, is the base for brioche mousseline and for holiday loaves. For a fruit brioche, fold 20 percent raisins or 15 percent chocolate batons into the dough at the end of the mix; the mill designed La Finoise to carry inclusions, and the dough holds them without tearing. For a hot cross bun or a spiced loaf, keep the standard column and add spice with the sugar. A 25 kg bag of La Finoise makes 25 of the 1 kg batches above, roughly 100 Nanterre loaves or 1,000 buns.
For laminated viennoiserie the flour changes rather than the ratios; our croissant formula on Gruau Rouge T45 covers the détrempe and the butter sheets. And if you are moving an American brioche recipe onto French flour, the conversion guide explains why the dough will feel softer and how to adjust.
A white flour with enough strength to carry the butter. Grands Moulins de Paris La Finoise T55 is the all-purpose flour of the range; the mill lists it for brioche, including Nanterre loaves, gâteau des rois, babas and doughs with raisins or chocolate, and the bag adds wheat gluten and ascorbic acid for strength. For an even taller, richer loaf, Gruau Rouge T45 at 12.1 g protein per 100 g also works.
A classic ratio is two parts flour to one part butter, so 50 percent on flour weight. Rich brioche runs three parts flour to two parts butter, about 65 percent, and pain brioché as low as 25 percent. The formula here gives a 50 percent standard column and a 65 percent rich column.
Butter coats gluten and stops it forming. Mixing the dough to full development first, then adding cold butter in pieces, builds the structure before the fat goes in, so the loaf rises tall and the butter stays in emulsion instead of leaking out in the oven.
For shaping, yes. A 50 percent butter dough is too soft to divide and ball at room temperature. A cold retard of 8 to 24 hours at 4°C firms the butter, develops flavor and lets a bakery mix one day and bake the next.
SAF Gold. At 12 percent sugar the dough is in the range where the osmotolerant Gold strain ferments reliably and Red slows down. Use 1.5 percent instant, or 4 percent fresh yeast.
92 to 95°C (198 to 203°F) at the center. A Nanterre loaf gets there in 25 to 30 minutes at 175°C; buns take 12 to 15 minutes. The crust colors early because of the egg wash and sugar, so trust the thermometer rather than the color.
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