The Palermo braids are soft brioche filled with raisins and covered with sugar. Extremely soft, fragrant, and so delicious that it’s really hard to resist the temptation once baked!
Preparing brioche with sugar is not difficult to do and they can be made even without a stand mixer. The process I propose is first worked in a bowl and then on a pastry board, so everyone can get their hands dirty!
The sweet braids are made with few and simple ingredients. One of these is lard, which can eventually be replaced with butter. I have personally tried them in both versions and my preference is with lard. They are also excellent with butter, so feel free to choose what you prefer.
Waking up in the morning knowing you can have breakfast with one of these sugar braids will make your day sweeter, in every sense!
The Sicilian brioches are so delicious and soft that they are snatched up and popular with both adults and children! You absolutely have to try them!
At the end of the article, you will find other useful tips. There is also a little gift waiting for you ❤️
Other delicious recipes for breakfast that you can’t miss!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economic
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 9
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/5 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (or 15g of fresh yeast to dissolve first in milk)
- 7 oz milk (warm or at room temperature, not hot)
- 3 tbsp lard (softened or butter)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup raisins (rehydrated and well drained)
- 1 oz milk (to brush the braids before baking)
- 1 1/2 oz water
- 1 1/2 oz sugar
- as needed sugar (to coat the braids)
Tools
- Bowl
- Baking sheet
- Ladle
- Pastry board
- Food scale
Steps
In a bowl, add the all-purpose flour (or half all-purpose and half bread flour), sugar, and dry yeast.
If using dry yeast, read the instructions for use because in most cases, it does not need to be dissolved like fresh yeast.
If you prefer to use the fresh yeast that you find in the refrigerator section at supermarkets, you will need to dissolve it in warm milk FIRST.
Pour the milk (at room temperature or warm, never hot, otherwise the yeast, sadly said, dies!) into the bowl.
If you like, you can flavor the dough with the grated zest of a lemon, preferably organic.
Mix all the ingredients well, first inside the bowl.
When the dough starts to come together, turn it out onto the pastry board and knead it vigorously for at least a couple of minutes.
At this point, spread it with your hands and place the salt and softened lard (or butter, if you prefer) at room temperature in the center.
Now, with a bit of patience, you will need to work the dough to absorb the newly added ingredients well.
Don’t worry if at first, the mixture doesn’t bind well.
After a few minutes, you’ll start to see it take shape and strength, and you mustn’t give up! Keep working it.
When the dough has perfectly absorbed the lard, spread it out again on the pastry board.
Place the raisins, previously softened in water (or Rum, if you prefer) and well drained, in the center, please.
Knead it again for about 5-10 minutes until you get an elastic dough. At that point, put it to rest in the bowl.
You can also make the traditional cross on the surface to check its rise. Cover with a lid and let rise for at least a couple of hours.
Rising time varies depending on room temperature. The warmer it is, the less time it will take (and vice versa!).
After the first rise, take the dough and divide it into many equal-sized pieces.
For convenience, I recommend weighing each portion and not making them smaller than 80 grams; otherwise, you’ll get very small braids.
With these quantities, I obtained 9 braids of about 80 grams each.
Work each ball with your hands, stretching it out until you get a long piece (like when making gnocchi).
Twist each piece until you obtain a beautiful braid.
Place each braid on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with a towel and two sheets of aluminum foil, and let rise for about an hour more.
If you find it difficult (but I assure you it is not) to make the braid, you can shape your brioches however you like, for example, in the shape of a bun or roll.
At the end of the final rise, gently brush the surface of each brioche with milk, using a kitchen brush.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F for about 15 minutes. If you have only a fan mode, lower to 338°F.
Baking time varies from oven to oven. Check often because if the braids bake too long, they might lose their softness.
Almost at the end of baking, pour 40 grams of water and 40 grams of sugar into a saucepan and bring to the fire.
Let the sugar completely dissolve, then turn off the heat and keep warm.
As soon as the braids are ready, take them out of the oven and brush the entire surface and sides with the prepared syrup.
If in the meantime, the syrup had cooled, turn on the flame again for just a few seconds to warm it up again.
Do not be afraid to exaggerate; the braids must be generously lacquered with syrup which will help keep them soft.
Afterwards, roll all the brioche braids in granulated sugar, and finally, they are ready to be enjoyed!
Aren’t they wonderful? But more importantly, do you feel like tasting one right away, still warm?! I do!!
I hope you liked these braids! Let me know if you try the recipe and come back soon to visit me!
Article protected by copyright © – Gabriella Geroni © All Rights Reserved
For the recipe, I was inspired by Palermo braids by Emilio La Spina, a young influencer discovered by chance on Instagram (cucinaconemilio) – all rights recognized to the recipe author
FAQ
How to store the braids?
These soft and incredibly delicious braids are best eaten on the same day but can be stored for a maximum of a couple of days.
If you want to consume them the next day, you should place them in a tightly sealed food bag. The brioche dough loses some of its softness the next day. However, if you have a microwave, heat the braids for just a few seconds to make them as good as new!Can I freeze the brioche?
Absolutely yes! To avoid unnecessary waste, we can freeze the braids either once baked or raw.
FREEZING RAW:
After forming the brioches, place them in the freezer, in appropriate hermetic containers, without letting them rise again. In this case, when you want to enjoy them, you must let them thaw at room temperature, and once completely thawed, let them rise again for an hour. Then you can brush with milk and proceed with baking as indicated above.
FREEZING AFTER BAKING: Once baked, brushed with syrup, and covered with sugar, place the brioches in appropriate food bags, tightly sealed, and place them in the freezer. When you want to eat them, leave to thaw at room temperature the number of braids you need. Once thawed, pass them for just a few seconds in the microwave and then finally eat them!I don’t like raisins; can I substitute it with something else?
If you don’t like raisins, you can leave them out, or if you prefer, substitute them (in the same amount) with chocolate chips.
Can I shape the braids differently, like a bun?
Absolutely yes! With the same dough, we can have fun and make brioches in different shapes, all of which will be delicious and beautiful to look at!
