Original Messina Dinner Buns. I grew up in my grandmother’s pastry shop, and when Lent came, we used to make these treats covered in sesame, which we call “giuggiulena”.
The dinner buns were created as traditional food after the long fast, rich in eggs, butter or lard, sugar and very spiced.
The origins however date back to the Last Supper of Jesus, and the bread that He broke for his disciples.
Today I will present the traditional preparation and the one with the Thermomix.
Made for you;
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 3 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: Easter Monday, Easter
- Energy 254.73 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 44.43 (g) of which sugars 7.68 (g)
- Proteins 7.61 (g)
- Fat 5.73 (g) of which saturated 2.06 (g)of which unsaturated 2.92 (g)
- Fibers 1.94 (g)
- Sodium 391.03 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 80 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Let’s do the shopping
- 1 1/8 cups water
- 3 1/2 tbsp lard
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 0.9 oz fresh brewer's yeast (about 0.9 oz — or about 2 3/4 tsp active dry)
- 2 1/4 cups Manitoba flour (strong bread flour)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (type 00)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon clove essence (essence)
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
Original Messina Dinner Buns
Tools
what we need to prepare
- Stand mixer or Thermomix
- 2 Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Pastry brush
- Oven
Preparation: Original Messina Dinner Buns
Dough by hand or with a stand mixer
Warm the water, and pour it into a bowl or into the stand mixer, together with the yeast, the lard and the sugar.
Mix them well.
When the lard and the yeast have dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients.
Knead until the dough is well combined.
Place the water, lard, yeast and sugar into the Thermomix bowl. 1 min at 99°F speed 3
Add the rest of the ingredients, and knead using the dough function for 3 min.
After kneading transfer the dough to a bowl covered with plastic wrap and then with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Then shape 12 well-rounded buns, place them on the baking sheets lined with parchment paper and let them rise for another 2 hours.
After the time has passed, turn the oven on to 104°F and allow the buns to finish the last 15 minutes of rising inside.
After 15 minutes, take the trays out of the oven, beat one egg with 3 tablespoons of milk and brush all the buns, then sprinkle them with sesame “giuggiulena”.
Preheat the oven to 356°F (conventional) and bake the buns for 15 minutes.
At the end of baking open the oven door and let the buns rest for another 10 minutes before removing them completely.
Here are the Original Messina Dinner Buns, ready.
Storage
You can store the Original Messina Dinner Buns in a food bag and they will stay soft for several days, and if you want you can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
Besides eating them as they are, I recommend filling them with Nutella, whipped cream or jam.
