We’re taking a trip way back down the timeline to one of the earliest time periods of the Kingdom of Hyrule. This young kingdom was small, but flourishing. Hyrule Town was a busy center point of the kingdom. This large town surrounding Hyrule castle was very active with a number of businesses, merchants, and residents.
At the time of the Minish Cap, they are preparing for the Picori festival. One of the businesses in Hyrule Town, Wheaton and Pita’s Bakery, is baking a number of baking goods with kinstones inside to celebrate the occasion. One of these baked goods is a loaf of brioche bread.
To bring Wheaton and Pita’s brioche to life, we’re going to follow a fairly standard brioche recipe using bread flour, milk, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, and cold butter. We will design the load with three ‘humps’ to match the in game photo better (albeit a simple little Nintendo Advance sprite). We will also brush the loaf warm butter and egg wash throughout the process for flavor and color.
It’s a pretty easy loaf of bread to make, which seems to fit the vibe is early Hyrule. It’s makes for a delicious accompaniment for almost any meal. Enjoying this loaf of bread totally put me in the mood for strolling Hyrule Town and taking in the Picori Festival!
Ingredients
2 ½ cups bread flour
¼ cup warm milk
1 packet yeast
3 tbsp sugar, divided
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, divided
½ cup butter, cold and cubed
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp milk
Ingredients
2 ½ cups bread flour
¼ cup warm milk
1 packet yeast
3 tbsp sugar, divided
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, divided
½ cup butter, cold and cubed
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp milk
Add 2 tbsp of sugar to ¼ cup of warm milk and whisk together to dissolve the sugar. Add the yeast packet to the milk and gently whisk. Allow the yeast 5 minutes to bloom (you should see bubbles forming on top of the water).
To warm the milk, you can heat it in the microwave on high for 20-30 seconds in a microwave safe container.
In a standing mixture with a dough paddle attachment, add the flour, salt, and 1 tbsp of sugar, and mix at a low speed to combine. Turn the mixer off and then add the eggs. Turn the mixer on again at a low speed, and mix until the eggs are fully incorporated into the dry ingredients. Add the milk mixture with the yeast, and mix until the ingredients fully incorporate and a dough begins to form. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything mixes and combines.
Scrape off any dough stuck to the paddle and switch it out with a dough hook. Add the cold butter cubes, and turn it back on at a low-medium to medium speed and allow the butter to be fully incorporated into the dough. Once the butter is incorporated, allow the dough to be kneaded for 15 minutes with the dough hook. The dough is done when it is smooth, holds its shape, and fills back in when you press your finger into the dough. It may still be a little sticky.
Remove the dough from the mixer. If you find that the dough is not quite ready, place it onto a floured cutting board, or other appropriate surface and knead the dough further by hand.
Form the dough into a large ball when ready.
Grease a bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 1 to 1 ½ hours. It should double in size during this time.
Grease a bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 1 to 1 ½ hours. It should double in size during this time.
At this point, once it has doubled, you can remove it from the bowl and split it into three portions of equal size with a knife. Roll each portion back into a ball and then flatten each of them out by hand into a thin round disk.
You will have a log shaped roll of bread dough with the spiral design visible on the sides.
Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a small microwave safe bowl. Melting the butter for about 30 seconds on high should do the trick.
Place the three dough cylinders into the loaf pan, side by side with the spiral ends touching the sides of the loaf pan. They should fit into the loaf pan snug. Brush the top of the loaf with the melted butter and then cover the pan with a towel. Allow the dough to rest again for another 1 to 1 ½ hours, until it doubles in size again, cresting just above the top rim of the loaf pan.
In the meantime, about 15 minutes before the dough is finishing its final rest, preheat an oven to 350°F. Crack one egg into a bowl and whisk it together with one tablespoon of milk completely to create an egg wash.
After the loaves have risen in the loaf pan, brush the top of the loaf with egg wash and place it into the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the bread turn golden and has an internal temperature of 190°F.
If you find the top of the loaf is getting too dark, you can tent it with aluminum foil for the remainder of the bake time.
When the bread has fully baked, remove it from the oven, and brush the top of the loaf with more melted butter. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, gently remove the bread from the loaf pan and allow the bread to cool on a wire cooling rack.
Once it is cool enough to touch, you can slice the bread and serve it. Enjoy!
Learn more about the Brioche dish from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap at Zelda Dungeon.