Brioche with extra virgin olive oil, honey, and rosemary

This is the first recipe that Alice from Pane, libri e nuvole is creating for Oleificio Fratelli Vieste. It's a delicious, soft, and fragrant brioche made with "I Criusi" extra virgin olive oil, our limited-edition collection of handmade Apulian amphorae, featuring Ogliarola Garganica olive oil with a balanced and delicate flavor, and rosemary honey.

The aroma of rosemary honey and the delicacy of Ogliarola Garganica oil are perfect for this leavened bread, which can be served with both sweet and savory dishes.

Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
for a 20 cm diameter bundt pan

FOR THE PRE-DOUGH

• 100g Manitoba flour
• 100ml water
• 3.5g dried brewer's yeast (or 12g fresh)

FOR THE DOUGH

• all the pre-dough
• 300g type 2 flour
• 100g Manitoba flour
• 2 eggs
• 100ml milk
• 50g honey
• 20g granulated sugar
• grated zest of 1 untreated lemon
• 90ml “I Criusi” extra virgin olive oil (Ogliarola Garganica variety)
• 1 generous sprig of rosemary
• a pinch of salt

FOR GLAZING

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon milk

PREPARATION

1. Pour the pre-dough ingredients into a small bowl, mix briefly, and let it rest, covered, in a draft-free place.
2. Lightly heat the olive oil and infuse the rosemary in it.
   After one hour, pour all the pre-dough, the remaining flour, honey, sugar, eggs lightly beaten with milk, and lemon zest into the stand mixer bowl. Begin kneading at low speed.
3. After a couple of minutes, start adding the oil one tablespoon at a time (removing the rosemary), until it's all incorporated. Add the salt and continue kneading until the dough detaches from the sides of the bowl.
   You can also knead by hand, if you have some experience, just follow the same order of ingredients and knead until the dough is well developed.
4. Lightly grease a large bowl with oil and transfer the dough to it. Cover the bowl with cling film or a cloth and let it rise until doubled in a draft-free place (mine took about 3 hours).
5. Butter a 19-20 cm bundt pan.
6. Take the dough and turn it out onto a floured work surface.
7. Divide the dough into 9 equal parts, each weighing about 105g. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place them on the work surface. Once you have made all of them, roll them again one by one and arrange them in the pan, touching each other.
8. Cover with cling film and let it rise for another 60 minutes or so, until the balls reach the edge of the pan.
9. Brush the surface with the egg yolk beaten with milk and bake at 180°C (static oven) for about 40 minutes, until the surface is beautifully golden.
10. Remove from the oven and wait at least 1 hour before unmolding.

If you prefer it sweeter and want to enhance the honey aroma, you can prepare a syrup by boiling 30g of honey with 30ml of water, turn off the heat, and brush the surface of the freshly baked brioche with the syrup.