Intermediate · English
Enriched doughs: brioche, buns and babka
Soft, rich doughs made with butter, eggs and sugar, and three bakes to master them.
What you'll learn
- Understand how butter, eggs and sugar change a dough, and work with them
- Knead a soft, sticky dough by hand until it passes the windowpane test
- Bake a tall, golden brioche loaf
- Roll, fill and cut a tray of even cinnamon buns
- Shape and bake a chocolate babka with clear, twisted layers
Course content
3 sections · 6 lessons · 15 min in all
How enriched doughs behave2 lessons · 4 min
What butter, eggs and sugar do to a dough, and how to knead one.
- Reading: Why butter, eggs and sugar slow everything downPreview: Why butter, eggs and sugar slow everything down2 min
- Reading: Kneading a soft, sticky dough2 min
Three bakes3 lessons · 6 min
Brioche, cinnamon buns and babka, in that order: each builds on the one before.
- Reading: Brioche loaf2 min
- Reading: Cinnamon buns2 min
- Reading: Chocolate babka2 min
Check your understanding1 lesson · 5 min
Five questions on how enriched doughs work.
- Quiz: Enriched doughs quiz5 min
Requirements
- Some bread-baking experience: you’ve made a simple loaf before
- Strong white bread flour, instant dried yeast, butter, eggs, milk and sugar
- Kitchen scales, a 900 g (2 lb) loaf tin and a baking tin of about 23 × 33 cm
About this course
Enriched doughs are the soft, golden, tear-apart breads: brioche, buns, babka. They’re made with butter, eggs, milk and sugar, and those riches change everything about how a dough behaves. It’s stickier, slower to rise and needs a different touch.
Tomasz starts with why, so the recipes make sense, then takes you through three bakes, each building on the one before. All three use instant dried yeast, so you don’t need a sourdough starter.
- A brioche loaf, the richest of the three
- A tray of cinnamon buns, ready for a weekend breakfast
- A chocolate babka, twisted to show its layers
Who this course is for
- Bakers who have made bread and want to try rich doughs
- Anyone who wants bakery-quality brioche and buns at home
Your instructor
Tomasz Nowak
Pastry baker
Tomasz trained as a pastry baker in Kraków and has spent eight years making brioche, buns and babka in Edinburgh bakeries. He teaches the rich doughs: the ones made with butter, eggs and sugar, which behave differently from bread and reward a little patience.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a stand mixer?
No. Every recipe in the course is kneaded by hand, and the lesson on kneading shows how to handle a soft, sticky dough without adding extra flour. A mixer with a dough hook is quicker: about 10 minutes on a low to medium speed.
Can I use my sourdough starter?
Not in this course. All three recipes use instant dried yeast, which copes better with the butter and sugar and gives a soft, even crumb.
Can I make the doughs ahead?
Yes. The brioche and babka doughs spend a night in the fridge as part of the method, and the buns can rise slowly in the fridge overnight and be baked in the morning.
Enriched doughs: brioche, buns and babka
6 lessons£45.00