Bossolà: the recipe

Name: Bossolà
Cook time: 47 min
Total time: 21 h 50 min
Yield: 2 pieces of 930 g
Ingredients: 120 g Wheat flour; 24 g Yeast; 36 g Sugar; 52 g Water; 144 g Wheat flour; 20 g Sugar; 72 g Water; 24 g Butter; 240 g Wheat flour; 60 g Sugar; 48 g Water; 72 g Eggs; 36 g Butter; 480 g Wheat flour; 120 g Butter; 180 g Eggs; 120 g Powdered sugar; 12 g Salt; 5 g Vanilla bean; 200 g Sugar; 200 g Water; 50 g Orange liqueur

The Christmas sweet bread that symbolises the Brescia tradition: a tall, soft, ring-shaped leavened cake, known for its fine, even crumb.

It calls for a long, elaborate process of four successive doughs, giving it extraordinary lightness and an extended shelf life.

It's baked inside the traditional ring mould with a hole in the centre (the "busin"), and is traditionally served brushed with an orange syrup.

This recipe is freely inspired by, or adapted from, the balance of Maestro Iginio Massari.

At a glance

Number of pieces: 2
Weight per piece: 930 g
Actual dough weight: 1865 g
Room temperature: 24 °C

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Ingredients

Quantities for 2 pieces of 930 g, kitchen at 24 °C

Primo impasto

Wheat flour (W320)120 g
Yeast24 g

Sugar36 g
Water52 g

Secondo impasto

Wheat flour (W320)144 g
Sugar20 g

Water72 g
Butter24 g

Terzo impasto

Wheat flour (W320)240 g
Sugar60 g
Water48 g

Eggs72 g
Butter36 g

Quarto impasto

Wheat flour (W320)480 g
Butter120 g
Eggs180 g

Powdered sugar120 g
Salt12 g
Vanilla bean5 g

Bagna

Sugar200 g
Water200 g

Orange liqueur50 g

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Method

Primo impasto (20 min)
- Mix.
Lievitazione 1 (25 min)
Secondo impasto (20 min)
- Mix, adding the butter last.
Lievitazione 2 (30 min)
Terzo impasto (20 min)
- Mix, adding the butter last: it should triple in volume.
Lievitazione 3 (1 hour)
Quarto impasto (20 min)
- Use butter cold from the fridge.
- Mix, adding the butter at the end and the eggs last of all.
Riposo in frigo (11 hours)
Pezzatura (3 min)
- Grease the molds lightly with butter and coat them with granulated sugar.
- Weigh, shape and place the dough in the molds, then cover.
Lievitazione finale (6 h 30 min)
- Let rise until it triples in volume.
Cottura (47 min)
Bagna (15 min)
- Bring sugar and water to a boil, then take it off the heat and add the liqueur.
- Brush the cake with the soak.

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Baking

- conventional oven, without steam
- Overall temperature: 175 °C
- Time: 47 minutes

The calculator adapts baking times to the weight of your pieces. Open the calculator

Preparation notes

Cooling: After baking, wait until the centre reaches 70-75°C (about 5 minutes) before turning it upside down — you can also skip that. Unmould while warm, neither hot nor cold. Let it settle for 5 hours, then dust with powdered sugar.

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