Easy Sicilian brioches with tuppo (no stand mixer), excellent with gelato or granita, simple to make and incredibly soft.
This year I moved to the countryside earlier than usual; I brought many kitchen tools, but not the stand mixer.
A few days ago my children asked me to make Sicilian brioches with tuppo to eat with gelato. My classic, well-tested recipe does, in fact, call for a stand mixer, and to work around the lack of the right equipment I had to come up with a recipe that could easily be made by hand and still give an exceptional result.
So I experimented with a very easy recipe that allowed me to make delightful, soft, and fragrant brioches with tuppo — perfect and much appreciated by my kids.
Curious to know the recipe?

Let’s go to the kitchen and prepare it together, but first, remember that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
Also see:
–Sicilian brioche with tuppo recipe;
–Brioche dough bunnies;
–Pan brioche with cream – foolproof recipe;
–Braided pan brioche without eggs and butter;
–Braided brioche with apple heart;

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very inexpensive
Rest time: 12 Hours
Preparation time: 1 Hour
Portions: 9 pieces
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

4 cups Type 0 flour
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Sugar
3/4 cup Milk
2 Eggs
6 tbsp Butter
1 1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Honey
1 packet Vanillin (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
to taste Orange zest
1 tsp Active dry yeast (or 12 g fresh yeast)
as needed Milk (for finishing)
as needed Egg (for finishing)

Easy Sicilian brioches with tuppo (no stand mixer)

Put the flour and sugar in a bowl, mix, make a well in the center and add the yeast; dissolve it with a little milk, stir and then add the remaining milk.
Add the eggs and salt and, always stirring with a spoon, let them be absorbed.
Using your hand, start kneading in the bowl, trying to incorporate almost all the flour.
Turn the dough out onto the work surface, spread it out and add cold butter pieces, the vanillin, the honey and the orange zest.
Start kneading trying to incorporate the butter into the dough; you will see it start to break down and become sticky — don’t add flour and keep working.
If you really can’t manage, help yourself with a bench scraper to detach the dough from the work surface.
Form a ball, cover it with a tea towel and let it rest at room temperature in summer (or in the oven with the light on in winter) for 15 minutes.
Take the dough again, flatten it slightly and roll it up as if forming a cylinder.
Turn the cylinder 90° and roll it up again.
Let it rest for another 15 minutes and repeat.
You will see that after the two rests the dough will become much smoother and more elastic. Form a ball and place it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
Place it somewhere warm at about 82°F (or in the oven with the light on) until doubled in size; it may take about 8-12 hours, but times are only indicative and can vary.
Once it has risen — and absolutely not before — turn it out onto the work surface and deflate it.
Form a large ball and divide it into pieces of 80 g and 20 g, equal in number.
Using the thumbs and forefingers of both hands, roll the pieces as if forming a cylinder, turn the cylinder 90° and roll again.
Then form a little ball, making sure the bottom is well sealed.
Repeat with all the pieces, both large and small.
Place the larger balls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spaced well apart.
Do the same with the small ones, but oil their bottom well with a little oil to prevent them from sticking to the paper because they will need to be moved.
Let them rise covered with plastic wrap until doubled; this could take up to 3 hours — times are indicative. Take a photo before and after: a good rise is essential to get very soft brioches!
Once doubled, make a deep hole in the center of each larger ball with a quick, decisive motion without deflating them and place a 20 g ball in the center of each hole.
Brush everything with beaten egg mixed with a little milk and bake at 338°F (conventional oven) for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool before filling with granita or gelato; if you want to serve them as a side you can also eat them warm.
They are also great filled with hazelnut spread.
Store the brioches sealed in a food bag; they will keep well for 24 hours. Alternatively, once cold, freeze them and defrost as needed.
Also see:
–Very soft brioche with melted chocolate;
–Sicilian chocolate granita without an ice-cream maker;
–Easy Sicilian lemon granita without an ice-cream maker;
–Sicilian almond granita.
I often knead the brioche dough late in the evening, place it somewhere warm and let it rise overnight. In the morning I proceed with the second phase of the preparation.