Orange Cardamom Sourdough Brioche Star Bread

SOURDOUGH ORANGE CARDAMOM BRIOCHE STAR

Nothing says holidays more for my family than orange rolls! Growing up in Southern California, the smell of freshly zested and juiced oranges during Christmas time was everything! Making this brings back all the memories. 

Orange Cardamom Sourdough Brioche Star Bread Recipe

Makes one 12-inch star loaf

(This is a large batch of brioche dough, you will have enough for this Orange Star loaf as well as a small babka or brioche loaf. This recipe requires a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment)

Both poolish & levain will be made the night before so plan accordingly. 

Poolish:

100g all-purpose flour

100g warm water

2g active dry yeast

-Combine ingredients the night before, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Levain:

½ Tbsp. starter

110g. all-purpose flour

110g warm water
-Combine the night before, cover and leave at room temperature overnight.

Sourdough Brioche Dough Ingredients:

500g Bread Flour

13g sea salt

60g granulated sugar

5g active dry yeast

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground cardamom

250g large eggs (5-6 eggs)

120g whole milk

150g leaven

200g polish

225g unsalted butter, cut into cubes 

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Orange Filling Ingredients:

175g butter, softened

190g 1 cup granulated sugar

10g Navel orange zest (about the zest of 2 oranges/3 tbsp. of zest)

½ tsp. ground cardamom

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

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Icing Ingredients:

185g powdered sugar

50g freshly squeezed orange juice (about 2 oranges/ 3tbsp.)

1 tsp. of orange zest (pinch of zest)

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Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. heavy cream

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Directions:

Remove butter 30 minutes before mixing to bring to room temperature, you don’t want it melted.

1.     Combine all brioche dough ingredients, EXCEPT for the 225g of unsalted cubed butter, in a large stand mixer bowl with dough hook attached. Mix for 5 minutes on low speed, scraping down the sides half way through. Once thoroughly combined, allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes in the bowl.

2.     After it has rested for 15 minutes, turn stand mixer on medium-high for 6 minutes, or until it has released from the sides of the bowl, this means the dough is ready and developed for the butter to be incorporated.

3.     Turn mixer down to medium speed and gradually add in cubed unsalted butter, your butter should be soft and pliable but still cool and not melted. Mix until it is completely combined with no chunks of butter visible. 

4.     Bulk Ferment the dough at 70F for 2 hours. Keeping it at a cooler temperature ensures that the butter doesn’t melt and separate from the dough. During the 1^st hour of bulk fermentation you will be “stretching and folding” your dough 2 times, at 30 minute increments. The last hour, you will “stretch and fold” it 1 time, 30 minutes after the last stretch and fold. 

5.     During this waiting time, mix up your orange filling. Combine all ingredients and set aside. You can also mix up your orange icing and set aside. 

6.     Once your bulk ferment is finished, you will divide your dough, this makes a large batch of brioche and yields enough for 2 separate bakes.  Save 1/3 of the dough for a small babka/brioche loaf and set aside. The rest of the of the dough will be used for the orange star loaf.  With that dough, shape into a circle/ball and divide it into 4 equal pieces, estimating by eye is fine. Roll each section out into 4, 10-inch circles, use all-purpose flour on your rolling surface to prevent sticking, depending on how warm your kitchen is, your dough may be really sticky, if it is too sticky to handle, place it in the fridge to firm up for a bit. 

7.     After your 4 circles are rolled out, you will begin to build your star loaf onto a piece of parchment paper. Take your orange filling and separate it into 3 equal sections in the bowl that it’s in. Take your first circle, place it on the parchment paper and spread 1 part of your orange filling over your entire circle. Take another circle and repeat 2 more times until you finish with your 4^th and last circle, this will be the top of your star loaf.

8.     Find a cup/drinking glass as a guide and gently press it into the middle of your circle, leaving an indent in your dough. With a non-serrated, sharp knife, cut your dough into 16 equal pieces without cutting into your indented circle in the middle of your dough. Once cut, visually separate your 16 pieces into 8 pairs, each pair will be twisted 3 times towards each other and then joined at the end pressing the 2 ends together. After they are all paired, tuck in the ends of each twisted pair to create a clean finished edge on each piece.

9.     Once you are finished, move your star dough with the parchment paper to a lipped cookie sheet, cover with a light tea towel and let your dough proof for an additional 1.5-2 hours. 

10.  Preheat oven to 450F and prepare egg wash with an egg yolk and heavy cream. Take a brush and lightly brush egg wash over entire loaf. Move your dough into the oven and make sure it’s on a lipped cookie sheet, butter will melt from your loaf and you do not want it to leak into your oven, believe me this has happened before and it’s a mess! Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown throughout. Half way through the baking tent the outer circle of your dough using foil to prevent it from burning on the edges. Kinda like you do with a pie crust J

11.  Remove when ready and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before drizzling orange icing over the top. Enjoy while warm!