gelato con brioche

Gelato con Brioche

The Italian ice cream sandwich! Sicilian ice cream shops offer this option alongside cones and cups. A golden-brown brioche bun baked with a ‘tuppo.’  A tiny dough ball is baked on the more oversized bun. Tuppo, in Italian, means hair bun and references the traditional hairstyle of Sicilian nonnas. I love eating gelato this way with a generous amount of whipped cream. These buns are also served alongside granita (p000) and are dipped into the granita to eat.

Yields 12 brioche buns

Prepare the sweet brioche dough.  Recipe below.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 100 gram balls.  Pinch off 10 grams from the ball and rolling them into larger and smaller balls as you go. Place the large dough balls on the baking sheet and place a small dimple in the top, leaving 2 inches of space between each one, then place the one small ball on the top of each dimple of the larger balls to create the tuppo.   Let rest for 1 more hour until almost doubled in size. Brush melted egg wash…maybe butter all over the dough and place in the oven.

During the last 20 minutes of the rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 25 minutes

Sweet Brioche Dough

1 ¼ cup milk, warm (110 F)

½ cup + ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar, divided

1 (¼ ounce) envelope active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)

4 cups (544 grams) all-purpose flour, divided

2 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten

Zest of one lemon (2 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

4 cups sunflower or other neutral oil for frying

In a small bowl, add milk, ¼ teaspoon sugar, and yeast and whisk to combine. Allow to stand for five minutes to bloom.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add both flours, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and salt. With the mixer running on medium low, add the yeasted milk and mix until just combined. The dough will be tacky but do not add more flour at this point.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and begin to knead. Slowly drop pieces of the butter into the dough, kneading them in before adding a few more pieces until the butter dissolves into the dough and the dough is soft and supple. Add a few tablespoons of flour at a time if the dough begins to stick to the surface. The dough will be very soft but should also be smooth. This should take about 15 minutes.

Place the dough into a bowl, covered with a tea towel, and allow to rest in a warm place for 2 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 50-gram balls, rolling them as you go. Place the dough balls on the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between each one, then let rest for 1 more hour, covered with a tea towel, until almost doubled in size.