Super Soft Rustic Brioche: The Gateau Santa Chiara
This is an ancient dish prepared by the nuns of the Santa Chiara monastery. I found the recipe in a very old edition of my grandmother Anna’s Talisman of Happiness, and in the family, it has always been successfully replicated for generations by all my paternal aunts. What makes the Gateau Santa Chiara so soft is the presence of potatoes in the dough, it’s so soft that it melts in your mouth.
If you love rustic brioches, also try my “Tall Rustic Brioche, explained step by step“…..it’s unmissable, one of the most clicked recipes on my Blog.
- Pizza alla Campofranco: the Neapolitan brioche that believes it's a pizza.
- Neapolitan Rustic Brioche with Mortadella, Salami, and Smoked Provola
- Leavened Brioche Pie with Sausage and Cheeses
- Fragrant Outside and Soft Inside Genovese Focaccia with Rosemary. Easy Recipe
- Stringy Neapolitan Gattò. Original Recipe Step by Step
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients for the Super Soft Rustic Brioche
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup potatoes
- 3.5 tbsps lard
- 0.7 oz fresh baker's yeast
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup mozzarella
- 3.5 oz cooked ham
- to taste fine salt
Tools
- Bowl
- Potato Masher electric Braun
- Stand Mixer Kenwood, Illuminated Bowl 7 L, 1400 W power
- Bundt Pan Nordic Ware "Bavaria"
Super Soft Rustic Brioche Preparation
Crumble the fresh baker’s yeast in a bowl with about 1/4 cup of room temperature water.
Then add 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour (about 1/3 cup from the total flour) and the tablespoon of sugar and mix well.
Let this dough rise covered with plastic wrap for about 30/45 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash the potatoes and cook them for 40 minutes from boiling starting with cold water. Drain them, peel them, and pass through the potato masher.
Also cut the mozzarella into small cubes and the cooked ham into strips.
Pour the remaining flour into the stand mixer, place the mashed potatoes in the center, the lard, the whole eggs, the risen dough, and the salt, and mix the dough for at least 10 minutes with the leaf whisk, then the last 5 with the hook, until the dough detaches from the sides.
Finally, add the cooked ham and the mozzarella to the dough and work for another two minutes.
Place the dough in a bundt pan about 8 inches in diameter, greased with lard, and let it rise again covered until it has doubled in volume (it will take about an hour).
Bake the brioche in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 50 minutes and serve it warm (but it is also good cold).
Since this brioche is very popular in the family, this time I made it even taller in my bundt cake pan (always with the same ingredients).
Notes and Tips
The classic recipe of this brioche calls for cooked ham and mozzarella as a filling, but it does not prevent you from filling this super soft brioche differently, with what you have at home, such as salami, mortadella, cheese slices, provolone, etc.
This brioche can also be kneaded by hand, in which case you will need to work the dough for a long time (at least 20 minutes) to obtain a soft dough that does not stick to your hands.
Shopping Tips!!!
To quickly mash the potatoes, I used my convenient electric potato masher, which reduces any cooked vegetable to puree. It’s an attachment (to be purchased separately) for the Braun MultiQuick 7 immersion blender, available at a special price by clicking HERE. #adv
Read my review for GialloZafferano on the Minipimer “Braun MQ9045 MultiQuick 9“.
For perfect kneading, I use my Titanium Chef Patissier XL stand mixer with illuminated bowl, 7L, integrated scale, and blender, 1400 W power, a trusted ally in the kitchen for kneading, weighing, whipping, cooking, grinding, pasteurizing eggs. #adv
If you’re looking for a more economical and smaller stand mixer model, you can choose to purchase the excellent Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker XL, 1200W power, 5L bowl, integrated scale. #adv
To bake the brioche, I used this elegant Bavaria pan by Nordic Ware, made of non-stick cast aluminum, which bakes evenly and releases cakes and savory brioches brilliantly. It is available at a special price on Amazon #adv
This is the Anniversary Bundt Pan by Nordic Ware, to achieve a taller brioche, also available on Amazon. #adv
For weighing ingredients, I use this handy digital kitchen scale, with a large removable bowl, tare function, and built-in timer, available on Amazon at a great price. #adv
For weighing ingredients, I use this handy digital kitchen scale, with a large removable bowl, tare function, and built-in timer, available on Amazon at a great price. #adv
Origins of the Gateau di Santa Chiara
The “Gateau di Santa Chiara” is a traditional recipe whose name derives from the Santa Chiara monastery, where the nuns used to prepare it in honor of the Saint on August 11.
