Caught somewhere between a pastry & a bread, this lovely brioche is a true sourdough with no added leaven or yeast, layered with preserves & twisted into a sunflower. Decadent on a Sunday morning with a cup of French roast, special enough for company.

makes 1- 12” Sunflower (or two smaller if you wish to keep one & gift one)

Sourdough Brioche

• 2/3 cup whole milk

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 cup active sourdough starter

• 3 cups bread flour (I use King Arthur, unbleached)

• 1 Tbsp. malt powder (optional)

• 1 tsp. lemon zest

• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, large at room room temp.

Filling, wash & finishing

• Jam (or preserves, flavor of choice)

• Heavy cream (or milk, or egg wash)

• 1 Tbsp. melted butter

• Confectioners sugar
  

Chef Notes: It’s imperative that your starter be healthy, alive & hungry for this recipe to succeed as this is the only leaven in the recipe. In other words, it will not rise properly if the starter is not healthy. Alternately you may add 1 1/2 tsp. commercial yeast to the warmed milk & starter for more lift, but this would not be a true sourdough at this point.

1.) In a small saucepan heat milk, sugar, butter & salt to 110f. Pour mixture into kitchenaid mixing bowl (or a large bowl if mixing by hand) & whisk in sourdough starter. With a wooden spoon, stir in 1 1/2 cups of bread flour to combine along with the malt powder & zest, attach dough hook & mix on low for five minutes. Add 3/4 cup flour & continue to mix until incorporated. Add egg with yolk & another 3/4 cups flour, mix for about 10 minutes. On a floured surface knead lightly while shaping into a smooth ball & place in a large buttered bowl, swirl top of ball in butter to coat then place smooth side up. Cover tightly with plastic wrap & place in a warm place until it doubles in size. This will take several hours (mine took 5 hours, however if you opted to use the addition of yeast it will only take 2 hours or so) as the sourdough starter metabolizes the gluten. Alternately, you may cover the dough & leave it on the counter overnight to finish rising & simply bake in the morning.

3.) Punch down dough & turn out onto a floured surface. Knead lightly to release air & cover with a towel to rest for 10 minutes. Cut into 4 equal pieces, then shape into balls. Working with one ball at a time (cover the others with a tea towel) roll into a 12” circle & place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel then roll out another ball into a 12” circle. Brush the first dough round with a thin layer of jam taking it to within a 1/4” of the edge. Top with second layer & repeat the process ending with top layer so that you now have three layers with jam & a top circle without jam.

4.) Place a biscuit cutter in the very center of pastry as a gauge. Make four equal cuts at 12, 3, 6 & 9 o’clock. Then cut each 1/4 into four so that you have 16 as shown in image below. Take two pieces & twist in the opposite direction twice then pinch the ends together to seal forming sunflower petals. Continue this process all the way around the pastry then brush with heavy cream, half & half, milk or egg wash. Cover with plastic wrap & a tea towel and allow the pastry to rise & puff up a bit, 1-2 hours (in a warm place). Preheat oven to 350f & bake until GBD (Golden Brown & Delicious) about 25 min. Cool & dust with confectioners sugar.