Recipe for cheese and star-shaped pesto brioche.

The day before, prepare the brioche dough: Take the butter out of the fridge about 30 minutes before starting the recipe. Start by dissolving the yeast in warm milk. Then mix in a bowl (or by hand) the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast, and start mixing. Next, add the eggs and knead for about 5 minutes. Then gradually add the butter cut into small pieces. Knead for about ten minutes, until the dough pulls away from the sides. Form a ball and place it in a bowl covered with a cloth overnight.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 4 equal pieces. Retrieve the lid. Take each piece, create an opening in the center with your thumb, and form a crown by gradually stretching the dough outward. You need to create an opening the size of the lid.

Place the formed ring on a floured work surface, and flatten it using the palm of your hand, starting from the inside of the ring toward the outside. You should aim for a dough width of about 10 cm all around the ring. If the opening in the center is not large enough, you can fold the dough over at that point (as I did).

Roll out the other 3 dough pieces in the same way and set them aside. Then take the first piece of dough, place a lid in the center (to help with presentation), and spread pesto on top (about 1/3 of the jar).

Place the second dough on top of the pesto, and spread 1/3 of the jar of pesto over it again. Repeat the process once more with the third dough and the remaining pesto. Finish by placing the fourth dough on top (which is not covered with pesto).

Then, using a knife, cut the dough into 8 equal parts (from the inside against the cheese box to the outside). Then cut each part in half (to get 16 in total), but this time starting 1 cm from the box, to the outer edge.

On each of the eighths of the dough (cut in the center into two pieces), wrap the right piece twice with your right hand to the right, and the left piece twice with your left hand to the left. Repeat with the other seven eighths that have been divided in two. Then join the two ends of each eighth with your fingers. Let it rest for 1 hour and 30 minutes at room temperature.

Beat an egg and a little milk, and brush the bread with the mixture using a brush. Add some pumpkin seeds. Bake for about thirty minutes at 170°C, until the bread is nicely golden. For baking, you need to keep the lid in place.

To finish, once the brioche is baked, take it out of the oven and let it cool before gently removing the lid. If you feel it's too risky, you can leave it in place and later place the cheese on top. Then, place the first cheese in the oven at 180°C for about 20-25 minutes, until it is well melted. Remove the rind from the top of the cheese, place it in the center of the brioche, and enjoy! Put the second cheese in the oven so that it is ready once the first is finished.