Sicilian Style Brioche

Sift the flour, warm the milk, mix the marsala wine with the honey and prepare a mixer with a dough hook on.

Put the sifted flour, the yeast and the sugar in a mixer and start mixing at a low speed and start pouring the lukewarm milk. Then add the eggs, little at a time and start increasing the speed of the mixer until all the eggs are absorbed and you obtain a smooth, compact dough. Add the butter, previously left outside the fridge to soften, adding a spoon at the time until it is all absorbed by the dough. Add the marsala and honey mixture and then the salt. As soon as these final ingredients have been incorporated, take the dough and place it on a clean kitchen counter previously sprinkled with flour and knead it gently for 5-7 minutes, then place it in the fridge to rest for one hour.

When the dough is ready, divide it into balls weighing about 65 g, then pluck a bit the size of a cherry (about 2 cm in diameter) from each and set aside.  Start shaping the larger pieces into balls by rolling them between your palms.  Then put them on a baking tray previously lined with parchment paper.

Do the same with the smaller pieces, turning them into big cherries shaped balls. Poke the middle of each of the big ones with your fingertip, and fill the resulting holes with the little cherries of dough.

Cover with film and let them rise for about two hours in a tepid place until they double in volume.

Before baking them in a preheated oven at 200 C°, brush them with a mixture of egg yolk and cream (you can also use milk if you prefer).

Brush the surface of each brioche with the beaten egg yolk and milk and put in a preheated oven at 200 Celsius for 10-15 minutes, until they are golden brown.

They are perfect for a gelato sandiwich, just slice them in half and fill them with your favourite Italian gelato flavours.