I remember the first time in baking school that we hand-made brioche. It was a sticky and messy venture which included incorporating butter into sweet eggy dough. Once we could manage the dough-slapping technique – recently made famous by Richard Bertinet –  it started to get a cohesive gluten structure, meaning, like me and my fellow students, you can do it, too. And you don't even have to enroll in school. 

Here's two pathways to explore. You can try dabbling with the buttery richness of brioche by enriching the dough with olive oil, as explained in Chad Robertson's Tartine, which gives the finished product a healthy feel. Or try what I've done, adapting a recipe from a Parisian boulanger called Laurent Bonneau, the formula found on the bread forum Boulangerie Net. It's a formula for a 25 percent rye brioche, originally a straight dough, but I tinkered a bit to a hybrid rather then full levain as I had failed in my last two levain brioche. The formulas needed tweaking, as the results were less then perfect!

Before…..

After….

A few pointers:

1.) Longer ferments for sweetened doughs, especially with levain.

2.) An overnight cold chill, so you can shape the dough.

3.) Bake at between 375-400, depending on size or weight of your brioche.