Make your own Snowflake Brioche & Caramel Sauce Cockaigne

Instructions

Begin by bringing eggs and butter to room temperature.  I like to keep my butter out overnight in a cool place.  Eggs can be removed from the fridge an hour before or can go in a warm-water bath for 20 minutes.

Next, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, yeast, milk and 2 eggs.  Mix but don't expect the dough to come together yet.

With mixer on low, add each egg and wait a minute until absorbed before adding another.

Once all eggs have been added, increase speed of mixer to medium-high and beat dough for 5 minutes or until it is coming together and slapping the inside of the bowl.

While your dough is mixing, prep butter: peel each packet of butter so that it's ready to go when you are incorporating it into the butter.

Reduce mixer speed to medium-low and begin to add walnut-sized pieces of room temp (but still slightly cold to the touch--not warm!) butter, bit by bit, only adding more after the previous piece disappears in the dough.

Toward the end, you may have to wait longer in between additions.  Once all butter has been added, remove bowl from stand mixer and gently run your hands/fingers through the dough to check for butter lumps.  If you find any, smear them into the dough by squeezing them while spreading.

Pour dough into a large plastic bin and place in the fridge to rise overnight.  *A double batch of dough gets refrigerated as one unit, just make sure you have a large enough container.  A 4-quart with a lid works well.  Make sure to place something heavy on top since this dough has a mind of its own and will push open the top during rising, even in the fridge!

For Cinnamon Buns

When ready to bake in the morning, remove from the fridge, turn out carefully onto a floured work surface, shape into a rectangle (2 rectangles if you made a double batch) and roll out into a large rectangle measuring the length and width of your silpat or baking sheet.

Spread half of butter over surface with fingers or a pastry brush, then sprinkle with cini-sugar to cover everything but the top 1 inch (lengthwise).

Drizzle the rest of the melted butter over the cini-sugar, then roll in sides and bottom of the rectangle 1/2 inch.

Working with the bottom, roll up tightly until you reach the un-sugared top.  Spread with any leftover butter from the pan that you used to melt it in, and pull and press to seal your log.  At this point, if dough is warm, place in the fridge uncovered to chill so that cutting is easier.

Once dough is chilled, use a serrated knife to slice log in half.  Now slice each half in half, and keep repeated until buns are the size you'd like.  Remember that when they bake they will get huge, so sometimes smaller is better!

At this point, buns can be frozen* until ready to proof (rise) and bake, or you can let them sit on the counter, evenly spaced on a baking sheet covered loosely with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.  Place them in a preheated oven set to 375 F and bake until golden brown and springy when touched, about 15-20 minutes.

*If you do decide to freeze the buns, place them in a ziploc bag and simply prep some on a baking sheet the night before baking to thaw in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap.  Then in the morning bring them to room temperature for 30-60 minutes until ready to bake.  They should feel soft and springy, which means the yeast are active.

Instructions

Remove your brioche from the fridge, turn out loaf to a floured surface and shape into a rectangle.

Using a knife or pastry cutter, divide dough equally into 4 portions.  Set all but one aside and begin rolling each into circles approximately 12 inches in diameter.  You won't get these perfect, nor should you.  This is a very forgiving dough.  Just make sure if you can that the first two bottom layers are larger than the upper two for shaping purposes.

Once you've shaped your first circle, gently pick it up and place it on a silpat or piece of parchment lying on a baking sheet.

Spread 1/3rd of the butter-cinnamon-sugar mixture (filling), adding evenly spaced spoonfuls over the dough then smoothing out with your hands.

Repeat with the remaining 2 balls of dough, then roll out the last to cover.

Next, use a juice or water glass and place in the center to help guide your shaping process.

Using a sharp knife, place the tip at the edge of the glass and cut dough equally into 4 "triangles".  Repeat by cutting each "triangle" in half again, then repeat again until you've cut your dough circle in 16 equal pieces.  Next, working with two segments at a time, lift up both flaps and twist away from each other twice, then pinch ends together, tucking under any excess dough.  *This is why you placed two larger circles on the bottom, as they are large enough to pull over outsides, pinch and then fold under.

By this time, your dough has already been warming and proofing (rising) due to the reactivated yeast.  Set a timer for 20 minutes and preheat oven to 375 F.

Make your Egg Wash

Combine egg and cream or milk in a small bowl with a whisk or fork.

Using a pastry brush (or your clean fingers), gently spread egg wash all over entire snowflake.  Work carefully so as not to deflate dough.

Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.  While loaf is baking, make caramel sauce.

Instructions

Begin with a heavy-bottomed saucepan (medium size) over medium-high heat.

Add sugar and stand over the pan the entire time, stirring with a whisk constantly until sugar begins to melt.

At this stage, you'll want to use your whisk to break up sugar clumps as they form.  Simply smash them with the tip of the whisk.  This step is best done now, even though when all the sugar melts and turns to liquid, you'll still see some clumps...don't worry!  These will eventually go away during cooking--and even if they don't, it will still taste great.

The above process will take you about 10-15 minutes.  Do not leave your sugar unattended.

Once sugar turns to liquid and clumps have been mostly broken up, stop whisking as much and just watch, whisking only every now and then.

At this stage I don't use a thermometer, as is common in most caramel recipe instructions.  Instead I go by how the bubbles look.

You'll be looking for rolling bubbles, starting in the middle coming from the bottom up.  Once this happens, whisk and smell.  You want the sauce to smell like caramel with a slightly burned aroma.  If you add the butter and cream too soon your sauce might not have a great depth of flavor, so be patient, but also note that if you let it cook too long it can burn easily, which won't taste good.  Make sure to have enough sugar, butter and cream to make a couple of batches until you get it right.  The time put in is worth it!

The above process will take only a few minutes, so pay attention.

Once sauce bubbles immediately after whisking, remove from heat and carefully add butter all at once, whisking constantly to melt and emulsify.

Next, add cream equally as carefully.

Add your pinch of salt, pour your caramel sauce into a heatproof pitcher and reserve for pouring over your Snowflake Brioche, or any other dessert you like!