POMPE à L'HUILE (OLIVE OIL BRIOCHE)

Steps:

• Check out the photo gallery below the recipe to see how the dough looks at each step.
• For the sourdough version
• The night before you plan to bake, mix a 56% hydration sourdough starter weighing 250g. Knead it on the counter for 1-2 minutes, and then place it in a jar with room for tripling. Cover and leave it somewhere warm. This stiff starter can be created from a single feed of 40g 100% hydration starter, 140g bread flour, and 70g water.
• Optional for the yeast version
• Just before mixing your dough, put a portion of the recipe's water in a small bowl with the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let the yeast dissolve and foam up.
• Both Recipes
• Mixing
• In a medium bowl (ideally with a pouring spout), measure out the water, sugar, orange blossom water, salt, and ground anise.
• While the sugar and salt begin dissolving, zest and juice the orange, straining out seeds and pulp.
• Stir a bit and then add the oil.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, briefly whisk your flour and instant yeast - OR - add the stiff starter in chunks to your flour. If you chose to proof your yeast, you can simply pour the mixture over the flour.
• Add the orange mixture to your stand mixer bowl and begin mixing using the dough hook attachment.
• Mix 5-8 minutes, initially on low speed and then low-med. Pause once early on to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The dough should be smooth and only slightly sticky to the touch toward the end of mixing.
• If you don't have a stand mixer, mix by hand or with a spatula, and then slap and fold the dough for gluten development. Videos of this technique can be found here.
• First Rise
• Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place (ideally at temps in the low 80s) until about doubled. This was 3 1/2 hours with instant yeast, and 8 hours with sourdough.
• Shaping
• Scrape the dough onto your countertop. There's no need to flour or oil it. Divide the dough in two pieces and roll them into balls.
• Cover the dough balls with a large piece of plastic wrap (you'll reuse this) and let them rest for about 20 minutes.
• Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also prepare two parchment squares and bake the breads one at a time on a smaller baking sheet.
• Using a rolling pin, roll the dough balls into circles about 8 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.
• Transfer the circles to the parchment paper, and make cuts in the dough as if it were pie but without reaching the center or the edges. Open the cuts a bit with your tool (spatula) or your fingers.
• Final Proof
• Cover the dough with your sheet of plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until puffy, almost twice as tall. This was 1 1/2 hours for instant yeast, and 4 hours for sourdough.
• Baking
• Preheat your oven to 400°F with a shelf in the center position.
• Bake the pompe à l'huile for 16-18 minutes or until the internal temp is over 200°F. If your fermentation times were long, the color of the breads may be lighter despite the interior being cooked through.
• Lightly brush the breads with olive oil to help them stay soft longer.
• Let the pompe à l'huile cool on a rack for about 20 minutes, then sprinkle powdered sugar on them if desired.
• The breads can be wrapped for storage, and softened through reheating in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.