Brioscia co’ tuppo (Sicilian brioche with chignon)

– sift the 2 flour onto a large bowl;

– pour the milk onto a small pot together with the sugar, the vanilla seeds, the grated lemon zest and the butter;

– put the pot onto the stove and warm it up on a medium fire;

– whisk everything together till the butter melts;

– remove the pot from the stove and allow the mixture to reach a lukewarm temperature;

– melt the yeast in the lukewarm flavored milk, then pour it onto the sifted flours;

– mix well till you start getting a dough, then start kneading;

– add the table salt diluted in few drops of water;

– keep kneading till you get a soft and smooth ball of dough;

– transfer the dough into a bowl greased with some oil, cover it with cling film and let it rest for at least 2 hours in the oven (switched off). Temperature inside the oven should be between 25 and 29 degrees.

– when the dough has tripled its volume, cut 6 balls from it;

– from each ball, take away small balls of around 15 gr each;

–  round each main ball with your hands and place them directly onto a baking tray (previously folded with baking paper), a distance of at least 5 cm from each other;

– when you have completed all the brioches, use your thumb to apply pressure to their center to make a hollow where you will place the small balls (tuppo);

– Before baking, if you want to give the classic shiny effect on top of the brioche, beat an additional egg yolk with a teaspoon of milk and brush the surface of each brioche;

– cover the tray with a kitchen towel and keep them away from air drafts, while you wait for the static oven to reach the temperature of 200 degrees;

– bake the brioches for 10 minutes at 200 degrees, then lower the temperature and bake for another 15 minutes or till golden;

– remove the brioches from the oven, and allow them to cool down onto a  wire cooling rack;

– once they reach a lukewarm temperature, sprinkle them with some icing sugar