Dough
4 cups all-purpose flour approx
3 TBSP butter - unsalted
4 TBSP sugar
2 1/4 tsp. salt
1 TBSP active dry yeast or 2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
2 eggs
8 oz. whole milk (heated to 105-110 F)
Beurrage ( rolled in butter )
2 1/2 sticks butter
- unsalted
2 1/2 TBSP all-purpose flour
Filling
1 cup toasted skinned hazelnuts
1 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1 1/8 cups granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1 TBSP ground cinnamon
1 TBSP vanilla extract
grated zest of 1 lemon (use a micro planer for fine grade)
Egg Wash
1 egg & 1 TBSP water well mixed
Directions:
1. add yeast to 1/4 cup of warm milk, mix well and set aside 5 minutes until foamy
2. Add remaining milk and dough ingredients to mixer bowl and mix on medium for 1 minute, add yeast mixture and mix for 2 minutes, do not mix enough to fully develop the gluten, it only needs to get past the initial texture and be somewhere between shaggy and elastic, cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours.
3. 20 minutes before taking dough from the fridge, make
beurrage by placing butter and flour between 2 sheets of parchment paper, pound butter and flour together until they are
combined, pound the beurrage into a 7 x 7 inch square. Butter should be pliable and cool but not too soft or mushy.
4. Remove dough from fridge and roll into a
square just large enough to cover the beurrage
when it is placed in the center of the dough, Work the beurrage into the dough by folding the edges over the
beurrage, then roll the entire package into a long rectangle,
fold the left side of the rectangle 2/3 of the way over, then bring the right side of the rectangle over to meet the fold on the left edge, this is referred to as a "book fold" or "single turn" and will produce 3 layers, roll it out again and give it one more single turn, Wrap in plastic and place in fridge for 30 minutes to relax the gluten and chill the butter in the dough, remove from fridge and roll it out to a rectangle again, fold the left edge to the middle of the rectangle,
fold the right edge over to meet the left edge, fold both sides together just like closing a book, this is called a "double turn" and will produce 4 layers." Wrap again with plastic and place in fridge for overnight chill.
5. prepare filling for overnight chill as follows: grind nuts together with a small amount of the sugar to keep them from turning to paste, pour into a bowl along with the other
filling ingredients and mix, cover and place in fridge until next day.
The Next Day:
6. preheat oven to 425 F with rack in center of oven for 30 minutes.
7. take filling from fridge and set aside, take dough from fridge and cut in half, set 1 half aside and cover with plastic, roll other half out to a rectangle at least 16 inches in length, spread
half the filling on the dough, make sure to keep a 1 inch border around outside edges of dough clear of any filling, starting with a long side of rectangle, roll the dough up
into a long cylinder and pinch the seam, cut the cylinder in half lengthwise, twist the halves
together into a 2-strand braid, leave the cut side of each half facing up as much as possible during braiding for a great swirled look on the finished loaf, place in a prepared 9 x 5 loaf pan, repeat process with remaining half of dough, cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until approx. 1/4 inch below top of the pan.
8. gently remove plastic and gently apply egg wash to loaves with pastry brush, bake for 15 minutes then lower heat to 350
F and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes, cover with aluminum foil if browning too quickly, rotate the
pans half way through the baking time to expose the loaves evenly to the different temperature variations in your oven. (hot spots)
9. remove pans from oven and run a thin knife around edges of loaves, remove loaves from pans and place on wire racks to cool, the loaves should be caramelized if exposed to proper temperature, a good idea is to purchase a simple and inexpensive oven thermometer to guard against scorching loaves with a high sugar content.
*Alternate Filling
in step #7, spread a thin layer of brown sugar over the rolled out dough leaving a 1 inch border clear of any sugar, sprinkle with cinnamon, chopped nuts, raisins, candied orange peel, etc., (be creative, you are the mad baker!)