Paul Hollywood's savoury Brioche Couronne

Now, this recipe is in no way mine but it is so damn tasty I feel I have to share it with any of you who may not have seen Mr Paul Hollywood of Great British Bake Off fame making this in his bread series.


This book is really fantastic from teaching basic breads to sourdough to soda breads. I can't recommend it enough. Now it's my dad who's really caught the bread making bug, often referring to "his mate, Paul" who'd told him how to make the bread rise higher and so on. He's made this before and so I knew what each stage should look like. Here's what Paul Hollywood looks like as he's making it:


My mum has a bit of a crush on Mr Hollywood.
So what you'll need:
500g/1lb 2oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
10g salt
10g instant yeast
170ml/6fl oz warm milk4 free-range eggs
250g/9oz unsalted butter, in small pieces, at room temperature
4 x 125g/4½oz balls buffalo mozzarella
8-10 slices prosciutto
½ handful fresh chopped basil
1 free-range egg, beaten
pinch salt
handful grated Parmesan
Make the dough by bringing the flour, salt, yeast, milk and eggs together in a bowl. Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough becomes smooth. Gradually incorporate the butter into the dough, kneading as you go. (You can use a dough hook on an electric mixer, and in fact Paul recommends that you do, but seeing as I don't have one, I go for the old fashioned method) Tip the dough into an oiled bowl– it needs plenty of room to rise. Leave the dough to rise until at least doubled in size (at least an hour, or overnight in the fridge). 
Line a baking tray with baking parchment. 
Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, without knocking the air out of it. Roll it out to a thickness of just under 1½cm, in a rectangle that’s about A3 size Have the long side facing you. Cover the dough with a loose layer of ham. Break off large pieces of mozzarella and distribute them all over the ham. Scatter the basil over the top. You can use basil pesto if you don't have fresh basil, but the flavour isn't quite the same. Roll up the dough from the long side furthest from you, into a long sausage shape. Cut the roll of dough in half down the length to expose the filling, leaving you with two long strips side by side. Twist the two strips together, holding both ends of the dough and twisting your hands in opposite directions, to make a long rope that’s quite tightly twisted. Form the rope into a circle and join the ends together so that the dough becomes a ring – a ‘couronne’ or crown. Put the crown onto the lined baking tray, and put the tray in a large plastic bag, big enough so that the risen dough won’t touch the sides. Leave the crown to rise until it has at least doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 200oC. Whisk an egg with a pinch of salt and brush the egg over the crown. Finally top the couronne with grated parmesan. Bake the couronne in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until golden-brown. The filling IS supposed to leak out- it's artistic and pretty. Leave to cool slightly. Serve warm or cold.As I've said, this is not my recipe. All I'm doing is sharing it with those of you who might not have seen this series.
This is my finished crown:

Hope you enjoy!!!