Monkey bread with pecan demerara coating

Let the chilled brioche dough finish its first rise in the oven on the proof setting; alternatively rise at room temperature until about 50% expanded and finish in the fridge overnight.

Brush the inside of a 10-cup bundt pan with melted butter, reaching every crevice and up the center tube.

Toast the pecans at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.

In a resealable gallon bag combine the pecans, a generous pinch of kosher salt, the Demerara sugar, cinnamon and the scraped seeds of half a vanilla bean; bash with a rolling pin and shake to a coarse meal.

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured board, knock out the gas and roll to an even half inch, roughly square.

Cut into a grid of about one inch with a wheel cutter and roll each piece into a ball between the hands.

Dip each ball in melted butter with a fork, coat in the pecan mixture and scatter haphazardly into the pan, leaving room to expand; re-warm the butter if it thickens. Scatter the larger pecan pieces through.

Cover and proof at room temperature 45 minutes to an hour until puffy; it passes the poke test when the dough springs back but leaves a slight indentation.

Bake on a center rack at 350 until very golden and puffed and 190 to 200 inside, about 40 minutes.

Cool about 10 minutes until it pulls away from the sides, then invert onto the rack; cool until just warm and slide onto a serving plate, sprinkling any lost coating on top.