Enriched doughs take bread into the territory of the indulgent, adding in things like butter and eggs and often milk, turning a chewy, rustic-textured loaf to something soft and tender and bordering on cake-like. These additions add flavor, but they also tenderize the crumb of a bread — loaves that pull apart as silky strands and seem to dissolve on the tongue. The thing’s a delicate balance: richness versus strength — fat won’t help with the latter, and so method needs to play a part in producing lightness that doesn’t cave in around its gloriously heavy filling.
Butter is laboriously worked in a little at a time after an initial “setting” of the gluten to prevent it from coating the flour particles too soon. Numerous bakers will use the tangzhong technique or a slow integration, where you blend your dough together fully and then soft butter gets added in piece by piece. This kind of gradual enriching still leads to a soft, shiny dough in which you feel truly spoiled and that will yield exceptional softness after baking.
Brioche, the quintessential enriched bread, features this balance at its apotheosis: with copious amounts of butter, it has a golden and soft colour and is enveloped in an egg-washed crust. The dough is often cold retarded overnight, creating flavor complexity and afford easier shaping. Then baked into loaves, classic heads, or individual rolls, brioche turns to a deep mahogany in hue with an intoxicating scent that perfumes the house.
Beyond brioche, enriched doughs lend themselves beautifully to cultural traditions like the Jewish egg bread challah, in which eggs and oil yield a plush, slightly sweet bread that is perfect for braiding into complex shapes. The ropes glisten with egg glaze and a scattering of seeds, the work of art and symbolism in every twist. Some potentially other options could be cinnamon-swirled babka or a fruity panettone, with both relying on the same basic principles of thoughtful enrichment and time to develop a little depth.
The actual joy of enriched doughs is, as with so many things, the freedom and forgiveness they give you once you’ve mastered the basics. They’re perfect for toasting at breakfast or stuffed with savories, but they also feel like treats to have with coffee. Learning these doughs unlocks a whole realm of soft, aromatic bread that feels both homey and fancy at the table, rewarding the baker with creations that feel luxurious and yet deeply satisfying.
