This is kozunak, so a rich Easter sweet bread, kind of similar to brioche. It’s supposed to be a heavy dough ( at least 30% fat).
What confuses me is that I’ve made brioche before with similar fat % and it turned out fine, but this one keeps giving me trouble (lol).
I’m on my third try with this recipe and it seems to work for everyone else who recommended it to me, but mine keeps going wrong somewhere.
I mix the sugar into the eggs first, make a preferment with part of the flour (about 120 g flour), milk, yeast and a little sugar, and keep everything cold except the preferment. Then I mix the dough, knead it for about 5 minutes until it comes together, then start adding the fats gradually (around 3–4 minutes for the first part of the oil), then the butter, then the rest of the oil at the end.
The dough starts looking smoother while mixing, but after all the fats are in, when I stretch it, it tears instead of giving me strong strands.
So I’m trying to figure out if this looks more like underdeveloped dough, overmixed dough or something else.
Recipe I used:
- 520 g strong flour
- 140 g sugar (this time I tried around 170 g
- 10 g salt
- 150 g eggs (mine were closer to 160 g)
- 120 g milk
- 5 g SAF Instant yeast
- 1 tbsp vanilla paste
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 tbsp Marsala
- 100 g oil
- 60 g cold butter
- 60 g chocolate
I’ll answer anything to help me get to the bottom of this, because I honestly love this bread and really want to get it right. 🙁
by kompir_neptune
20 Comments
From Google:
“Fat inhibits gluten development by coating flour proteins (gliadin and glutenin), preventing them from hydrating and binding into long, elastic chains. This process, known as “shortening,” creates a tender, less elastic dough by breaking up gluten networks. Adding fats early or in high amounts results in a more delicate, soft texture, such as in cakes, pastries, and enriched breads.”
I know youve done brioche eith similar fat levels, but every recipe is different. Have you tried S&F and rest periods after mixing?
You could also try upping the salt since that can help with tightening the gluten.
Dough is underdeveloped before you add fat.
yeah looks like not enough gluten, adding the fats too early. maybe try an autolyse first
What is your strong flour? Is this bread flour?
In brioche recipes I use a 1/4 napolitan pizza flour. This makes my gluten a lot better and not destroyed by the butter.
It’s undermixed. Five minutes is not enough. You want a strong dough before you start adding the fats. The hook is really bad on these. Use the leaf and beat it on high until it wraps around the attachment. Then start adding the fats. The butter should be room temp, not cold. Trust me, I’m a professional Bulgarian baker.
p.s. sugar at 140 is fine. too much sugar messes up with gluten development as it steals water.
I’m not following the process you use. Can you break down the steps a little further or provide a link to the recipe? Bread sounds delicious!
When you mix in an electric mixer for extended periods of time, excess friction makes the dough heat up and in the case of enriched doughs, can melt the incorporated butter. Would be my guess, try chilling some of the ingredients before mixing and or resting during kneading.
I wouldn’t add the eggs before you have developed the gluten. Eggs contain fat and that will stop the gluten developing. For enriched doughs I always kneed first then add eggs and flour gradually afterwards.
There are fundamental differences between butter and oil. One is butter is only around 80% fat and the other is it’s not as efficient at coating the gluten strands so you can’t compare the brioche process to your current process. As a few people have mentioned, you added the fat too soon. You need to fully develop the gluten first. I’ve never gone close to that amount of oil so for anything else, I can’t comment apart from maybe try with less oil?
Most of the suggestions are good.
It is underdeveloped gluten. So focus on trying to strengthen it with some more trial and error. Change one thing at a time and see the result. Some changes:
-Change type of flour or add gluten strengthener.
-Your dough should be cold, it looks very warm in the images. So try maintaining a cooler temperature of the dough by using ice water.
-The butter should not be ‘melting’, it should still be firm to touch. The recipe says cold butter. Don’t continue mixing for too long once it is added.
-Mix for at least 8-9 minutes for gluten development before adding fats (similar to other suggestions!
Hope this helps. Would love to see it once you get it! I’ll try it too! 😀
(Edited for clarity)
Your hydration is 94%. That’s a lot. You would need a bread flour with a minimum of 14% to 15% protein because you’re adding all that sugar. And the sugar is weighing down the flour
This probably could still work, but you gotta mix the dough a lot more five minutes at 94% and I do 90% hydration but I mix it for up to sometimes 30 minutes and that’s with a dough mixer. You have to work to do more just keep mixing and mixing and mixing and mixing until you get your window pane
In additional to the other comments, I’ve found my kitchenaid really struggles with enriched dough. I recently got an ankarsrum and it’s a gamechanger
Yo, my dude! I get your struggle. I hate this type of doughs, but my family expects kozunaks from me on Easter :D.
What was a game changer for me was adding the sugar after gluten is developed. So my process is:
* Mix 5 minutes slow speed
* 5 minutes rest
* Mix 5 minutes fast speed (speed 2 on my mixer)
* 5 minutes rest
* Mix ~3 minutes slow speed while adding sugar gradually, then mix 2-3 minutes fast speed
* 5 minutes rest
* Mix 3 minutes slow speed while adding lard gradually, then mix 2-3 minutes fast speed
* 4 stretch and folds during bulk
I do 5 minutes rest between each of 5 min mixing, because I do not have professional mixer, but some Gorenje home mixer and I do not want to overheat it. My dough passes window pane test after I am done with the stretch and folds.
Will post pictures of my kozunak and recipe below this message.
*EDIT: Guess images are not allowed..
Wait… the first picture isn’t your toilet bowl?
Big thing for me, get windowpane development BEFORE adding fat, should be good after that.
Room temp butter will mix in easier.
Also you could add this dough into other enriched dough you make; I used to be a baker and you better believe mistake dough full of butter got used if at all possible!
I admire that you want to “get it right,” but even “wrong” I bet it’s pretty darned good. I hope you’re still baking these “failed” doughs
Hold 20-30g of the sugar, definitely mix it more in medium-high speed, like around 10 mins and halfway through that, add the sugar and gradually add the butter. The coarse sugar will help distribute the fat.
Everyone here is an “expert” at offering the most idiotic gibberish, and no one talks about the fact that your recipe sucks and you stand no chance of making this bread if you keep using it, no matter what you do about mixing and other mechanics.
“Recipe I used:
* 520 g strong flour
* **140 g sugar (this time I tried around 170 g**
* 10 g salt
* **150 g eggs (mine were closer to 160 g)**
* **120 g milk**
* 5 g SAF Instant yeast
* 1 tbsp vanilla paste
* 1 lemon zest
* 1 tbsp Marsala
* **100 g oil**
* **60 g cold butter**
* **60 g chocolate”**
1. Way too much sugar. I should be up to 10% of the flour weight for this dough
2. Hydration – since only certain % of the weight of the eggs can count as “water” in hydration calculations and the rest is fat and solids, your hydration is made of 110g water from the eggs and 110g from the milk as it also has solids, for a grand total of “whopping” 220g which is about 50% of the flour weight and given you have such high protein flour, this is not nearly enough. Your water weight for this dough should be at least 70% given the flour you are using. This is the reason gluten did not form – you need water to make gluten.
3. Too much fat…way too much. Use 25g oil and and 50g butter, whatever on the chocolate chunks.
I hope this helps you, and I hope you ignore the idiotic and pedantic comments above as they are written by people who have no idea what they are talking about.
Is the padded better than the hook for bread? Or this type only?