Duck Fat Brioche

People go nuts for duck fat and for good reason; it's delicious.  This recipe replaces some of the butter with duck fat; it doesn't end up as savory as you would think, and would make great french toast or bread pudding.  You end up with a lot of dough. I used 1/4 of it to make rolls with a dried fruit filling, and the rest to make the loaf.  Either version makes a delicious breakfast.

Starter
2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
1 cup AP flour
1 tbsp sugar

Dough
6 eggs
1/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
1/2 duck fat, at room temperature
AP flour (lets say maybe 4 cups)

For the fruit fillings
6 oz dried figs
4 oz prunes
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 1/2 tbsp dark rum
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground pepper
pinch of salt

1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
demerara sugar

For the starter
1. Mix the yeast, milk, and sugar together and let sit for 5 minutes. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix in the flour. Let it rise, covered, for at least 2 hours.

For the dough
1. Mix the eggs and warm water together.
2. Put 2 cups of AP flour in the work bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, slowly drizzle in 2/3 of the egg mixture with the mixer on low speed to make a batter. add in the salt and sugar.
3. Work in the butter and duck fat into the batter slowly, bit by bit.
4. Slowly drizzle in the rest of the egg mixture.
5. Switch to a dough hook attachment, adding in about 1/2 a cup at a time, work in the AP flour until you get a soft elastic bowl of dough.  It'll be somewhat softer than most bread doughs because the duck fat is so liquid-y at room temperature.
6. Knead the starter and the dough together until completely homogenized. It's easier to do this with a combination of your hands and a bench scraper.
7. Let rise in a greased bowl, covered until doubled in size, about 2 1/2 hours. punch down and then chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the fats have a chance to harden up.

For the filling
1. Simply put all the ingredients for the fillings in a food processor and process until it makes a chunky paste.  This should be enough to fill about 1/4 of the dough.

For the Fruit Filled rolls
1. Take a bit of the dough, roughly the size of half of a fist. Roll it out into a circle
4-5 inches wide. Place about 1 1/2 tbsp of the filling in the center (one of the spring loaded fishers is great for this).  Wrap the dough around the filling and squish/twist it to make a seal.
2. Let rise for 30-45 minutes on the pan you are gonna bake them on.
3. Snip the top with kitchen shears to make a shallow X.  Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.  Bake at 375 until golden brown, 15-20 minutes

For the loaf
1. Divide the dough into 9 pieces, rollin each out into a snake the length of the loaf pan. place them in the pan, 3 across, 3 stacks high. (a roll out a bit of the dough, cut it into strips and decorate the top with a lattice pattern, it makes it look way impressive)
2. Let Bench proof for 45 minutes.
3. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.  Bake at 375 until golden brown and a bamboo skewer comes out clean, about 50 minutes, turning it halfway through the baking time.