What Is Brioche col Tuppo?

In Sicily, breakfast looks a bit different than it does here in America. In Italy, breakfast means espresso and un dolce, something sweet. If you've ever stayed at a hotel in Italy, you know exactly what I mean, a big table filled with all different kinds of sweets, nothing like the breakfast spread we're used to at home. And in Sicily, you'll typically find a brioche col tuppo sitting right alongside that espresso.

Brioche col tuppo is a soft, sweet brioche bun with its iconic round little topknot sitting on top. Its name comes directly from that shape. Tuppo is the traditional word for the low bun Sicilian women used to wear in their hair, and the brioche's rounded top was named for that exact resemblance.

It can be eaten completely plain. But during the hot days of summer, you'll almost always find it served alongside granita con panna instead.

Granita is deeply rooted in Sicilian history. The origin of granita  dates all the way back to the Arab rule of Sicily between the 9th and 11th centuries, when snow gatherers would collect snow from the slopes of Mount Etna and store it in underground caves. During the summer months they would mix that snow with fruit syrups. And that became the foundation of the granita we know today.

Traditionally, the granita is served on the side, topped with fresh panna, whipped cream, alongside a warm brioche. Classic granita flavors you'll find most often are coffee, almond, and lemon. The idea is simple, you tear off a piece of the brioche and spoon your icy, melting granita right on top. There's something about that contrast, warm brioche meeting cold granita, almost like an al mode moment, that makes this dessert so extraordinary, and exactly why people keep coming back to it.

For a more decadent version, the brioche is split open and filled generously with gelato and/or sorbetto. And of course, no trip to Sicily is complete without trying Bronte pistachio gelato tucked inside a brioche col tuppo. Sometimes the brioche itself is flavored too, with lemon zest, orange zest, or both, since citrus is such an integral part of both Sicilian dessert and savory cooking.