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Rich and eggy, brioche is a thing of buttery beauty. Is it bread or is it cake? Some say that Marie Antoinette’s famously divisive (and perhaps entirely made up) proclamation, “Let them eat cake” was actually “Let them eat brioche.” Incredibly versatile, this bakery standard can be sweet or savory and is an excellent foundation for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/brioche-burger-buns">burger buns</a>, dinner rolls, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/classic-panettone-in-one-day">panettone</a>, and other pastries. Enriched with lots of eggs and butter and a bit of sugar, brioche is maybe a little bit cake and a little bit bread after all. Using the baker’s percentage (where each ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the weight of the flour, and flour is always 100%), a rich dough maxes out at 100% fat to flour. But, depending on preparation and baking—such as <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turning-brioche-into-flaky-pull-apart-rolls">lamination</a>—some of that butter can run out of the dough during baking, so going all in on fat doesn’t always yield the best outcome. For working purposes, cost, and performance, a ratio of about 50% fat is ideal. (This recipe formula is 54% butter.) Loaves of brioche were being baked long before the availability of commercial yeast. Originally leavened with levain (or a natural starter or sour culture), the rise of commercial yeast made brioche dough more consistent for proofing and baking. Our recipe below calls for a whopping 30 g of yeast. This is for flavor and speed. Typically, enriched doughs need a greater amount of yeast to power through the richness of the butter, eggs, and milk. Our ratio here helps with proofing and rise and also provides a good yeasty flavor despite shorter bulk fermentation times (compared to natural leavening, which can take several days). If you prefer a less yeasty flavor, you can reduce the yeast amount by 50% and you’ll still produce a fantastic brioche dough.