I’ve always believed that if you have a few really good recipes, you can make just about anything. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel when creating new things and by simply tweaking a recipe, you can create an entirely new product. I have been making this Berliner donut recipe for some time now and it’s very popular with my family and friends. Who doesn’t just love waking up to warm donuts filled with cream, custard or jam…
To show you just how versatile this dough is, I have also used it fry up a batch of square shaped beignets that will rival anything you may have had at the famous Café du Monde in New Orleans. This dough is so deliciously rich that I have also made it into brioche rolls.
With the midsummer heat, I wanted to highlight a few different frozen desserts and I used this dough to make something VERY Sicilian. I grew up with many Italian friends and those that were from Sicily would enjoy this sweet and cool treat for breakfast in the summer…yes, you heard me right, breakfast! While I was working on my wheaties, my Sicilian friends were enjoying a cool and sweet treat. Their delicate and sweet homemade brioche rolls were split open and stuffed to overflowing with either a gelato, sorbetto, granita or semifreddo. The brioche was a sturdier container for the ice cream than a cone and uniquely delicious without getting soggy. Needless to say, those mornings started out kinda rough…
Today, I felt like enjoying one of these childhood memories. I made a quick homemade vanilla semifreddo that I stuffed into a tender brioche roll that was then dusted with powdered sugar. I added some fruit salad to the plate, but feel free to add some right into the roll if you like.
It’s something a little out of the ordinary and not commonly seen but still a delicacy whose tradition carries on beyond the Sicilian borders.
Brioche filled with Ice Cream
1 recipe Berliner donut dough
1 recipe vanilla semifreddo (or ice cream, granita or sorbetto of your choice)
Assorted fruit salad **optional
1 egg, beaten with a little water and passed through a sieve
Make the dough according to the directions and once proofed, pre-portion all of the dough into 2 oz rolls.
Cover and allow them to proof for about 15-30 minutes, depending on warmth of your environment. Once they have proofed, brush gently with the egg wash and bake for 10-15 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven. Once golden brown, remove from oven and allow them to cool completely. To fill rolls, slice them open halfway, and fill with ice cream of your choice.
Beignets
1 recipe Berliner donut dough
Powdered sugar
Make the dough according to the directions and once proofed, either stretch out the dough into a large rectangle or you can use a rolling pin. Cut into even sized squares then cover with plastic and allow to proof for another 10 minutes until the oil has heated to about 360°F.
Add a few test pieces to make sure that the oil is not too hot, or they will cook quickly on the outside and stay raw on the inside.
Once you have the oil at the right temperature, fry up all of the dough pieces. As they become a lovely golden color, drain them onto a paper lined tray then add them to your platter, dust them with powdered sugar and enjoy.
Leave a Reply