Richard Bertinet’s Sweet Dough

This dough is a cross between brioche and white bread and is one of the ‘milk doughs’. Although it’s enriched with milk and butter, It isn’t too sweet. You can use it to make bread which can be used for sandwich or served toasted. You can make the following with it: Beignets (doughnuts), Chocolate Buns, Tart Base, Pastry slice, Pain viennois and fruity tea loaf.

Beignets

Please watch Richard Bertinet’s video before trying out the recipe. The first time I tried it, my countertop was a sticky, gooey and mucky mess. It felt as if I was trying to scrape off a huge ball of warm, sticky chewing gum. All my fingers were covered in dough….but I’ve since gotten better and am getting hooked to this technique.

rub the yeast into the flour, using your fingertips until it disappears into the flour.

Rub in the butter, then stir in the sugar and salt.

Make a well in the centre then add the eggs and milk.

Hold he bowl with one hand and use a plastic dough scraper to mix the dough, 2-3 minutes until a dough starts to form. After about 3 minutes the dough should look like thick sticky porridge.

With the help of the rounded end of the dough scraper, turn the dough onto the counter top. The dough will feel very soft, sticky and moist but do not add more flour and do not flour the counter. Make sure you watch Richard Bertinet’s video before you proceed to work the dough by hand. It will take 5-13 minutes depending on how efficiently you do it.

This is the final dough after mixing using stretch and fold technique. it has been formed into a ball

Resting the dough: lightly flour the inside of the bowl and put the ball of dough in it. Cover with a lint-free towel or cling film or plastic bag

and let the dough rest in a draft free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. The dough is now ready to make the following: doughnuts, orange and mint loaf, fruited tea loaf, chocolate bun, pain viennois, sweet roll and bacon slices.

Please watch Richard Bertinet’s video if you decide to mix the dough by hand Step 2 and 3.

Richard Bertinet's Sweet Dough

Difficulty: easy
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Original Recipe: Dough: simple contemporay Bread by Richard Bertinet

Ingredients

500g (17.5oz, 4 cups) white bread flour (Canadian all-purpose is fine)
15g (½ oz) fresh yeast or 1½ teaspoons instant yeast or 7g envelope active dry yeast
60g (½ stick, 2oz, 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
50g (¼ cup) fine granulated sugar
1-1¼ teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
255g (9oz, 1 cup filled to the brim) lukewarm whole milk (you may need 1-2 tablespoons extra milk depending on the flour you use.)

***important: if you are using active dry yeast, you have to dissolve it in the milk first. You should not try to rub it into the flour because it needs activation. I used instant yeast and rubbed it into the flour. I could not find fresh yeast anywhere.

Instructions

You can either mix this dough by hand using steps 2 and 3 or mix it using a stand mixer, using step 4, then let it rest (step 5). I mixed my dough by hand because I wanted to learn the slap, stretch and fold technique. (I have not yet used a mixer)
Mixing the dough: rub the yeast into the flour, using your fingertips until it disappears into the flour, then rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre then add the sugar, salt, eggs and milk. Hold he bowl with one hand and use a plastic dough scraper to mix the dough, 2-3 minutes until a dough starts to form. After about 3 minutes the dough should look like thick sticky porridge. With the help of the rounded end of the dough scraper, turn the dough onto the counter top. The dough will feel very soft, sticky and moist but do not add more flour and do not flour the counter. Make sure you watch Richard Bertinet’s video before you proceed to step 3.
Working the dough (kneading) by hand: work the dough by stretching and folding to trap as much air as possible into it. It will be very sticky in the beginning but as you continue stretching and folding it will come together and feel alive and elastic in your hands. Ideally it should take just 5 minutes for the dough to come cleanly away from the counter. For a beginner it might take longer (about 8-10 minutes). The final dough should feel soft, light and elastic after the working process is over. Form the dough into a ball as shown in the video, then proceed to step 5.
Using a mixer with dough hook: put the flour into the bowl of the stand mixer then rub in the yeast into the flour, using your fingertips until it disappears into the flour. Rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre then add the sugar, salt, eggs and milk. Switch on the mixer onto the lowest speed and mix for 2 minutes, then turn up the next lowest speed and mix for another 6-8 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Remove the dough from the bowl, transfer to a lightly floured surface and form it into a ball as shown in the video. Proceed to step 5.
Resting the dough: lightly flour the inside of the bowl and put the ball of dough in it. Cover with a lint-free towel or cling film or plastic bag and let the dough rest in a draft free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. The dough is now ready to make the following: Beignets, fruity tea loaf, chocolate bun, pain viennois, sweet roll and bacon slices.
For cup measures, spoon the flour into the cup, heaping it up over the top, then slide a knife across the top to level off the extra. Be careful not to shake or tap the cup to settle down the flour or you will have more than you need. I use a 240ml American cup.