PLAITED BRIOCHE

Ingredients :
- 300 gr all purpose flour
- 120 gr butter
- 3 yolks
- 130 gr milk
- 40 gr sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1,5 tsp dry yeast (or 15 gr fresh yeast)

Rehydrate the yeast in the warm milk (not to hot) for about 5 minutes.
Mix the flour with the sugar and salt, then add the yolks and the milk, knead for 10-15 minutes. The brioche dough is very sticky at the beginning, less after the kneading. Of course you can use a breadmaker or a doughkneader (like a kitchenaid).
After this first kneading, let the dough rest for 5 min, and then add the butter at room temperature and cut in small pieces. Knead again for 10-15 min.
Let rise the dough 1 or 2 hours (according to room temperature) The dough's volume has to double.
After that, punch it down and cut it in three pieces and shape the plait. Cover with a clean cloth and let rest one more time for about 1 hour. Then brush it with a mixture of water and 1 yolk. It's important to thin the yolk with water because otherwise the yolk will burn too fast.
I put it in a no preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (medium-high temperature : 180°C 350°F). The no preheated oven technique allows the brioche to rise a bit more.

the dough after the first rise ...