The concept is very simple: one or two large scoops of ice cream inside a brioche bun or a butter croissant. However, there is something about that bite overflowing with frozen cream with sweet and somewhat crunchy dough that makes it irresistible. With labels like ice cream burger, gelato burger, ice-crone either crolatedimages of these sandwiches go viral every summer on Instagram and TikTokand ice cream parlors design their own versions of the sandwich to attract an audience eager for new experiences.
The most direct reference is the granita with brioscia col tuppoa Sicilian custom associated with sweet fare niente. It is a breakfast consisting of a glass of sorbet with whipped cream on top, and a soft bun that is dipped in ice cream before eating. The bun is round in shape with a protuberance at the top reminiscent of a bun, tuppo in Italian, in an updo. Fabio Pitrola, ice cream maker Cosi Duci (C. de Pujades, 244. Map), a Sicilian ice cream parlor in Barcelona’s Poble Nou recalls this summer habit. “When I was little my mother used to buy it for me for breakfast. In Sicily there are 40 degrees in summer and this gives you life in the morning.” He gelatero He points out that granita is not the granita that we know in Spain, and what is most similar to it is sorbet (although it is lighter).
![The original 'granita con brioscia col tuppo'](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/YOYF7VV7GNAHXNZ4T64FEO6VBI.jpg?auth=25688a83353f8bd48aab131082cdc8d4f3a252653cdeabf9dfc20a7f2944b5aa&width=414)
A little history
The most widespread version inside and outside Italy is the brioche sandwich with granita or ice cream, and topped with a generous amount of cream. When did this ingenious combination arise to enjoy it as an ice cream sandwich? “It is not known for sure how the transition occurred,” he explains by email. Eugenio Signoronifood writer, curator of restaurant guides in Italy and podcaster. “Giovanna Musumeci, refrigerator in Randazzo (Catania), he explained to me that in Sicily it was quite common to consume granita with bread.”
He adds that the move towards brioche could be a consequence of this custom, perhaps developed in the Italian noble houses where the monsù, the French chefs of the time who contributed to the fusion of French and local cuisine. The Sicilian brioche is distinguished from the French original; Although the recipe is practically identical, the main disparity lies in the use of lard instead of butter. Furthermore, unlike French brioche, Sicilian brioche is in most cases scented with some citrus essence such as orange blossom.
Signoroni comments that, although it is not documented, it is possible that the famous Sicilian chef Francesco Procopio Cutò, considered the father of ice cream, was the promoter of the consumption of ice cream with brioche at his Café Le Procope, the first and most famous literary café in Paris. Procopius improved the sorbets of Arabic origin that were made in Sicily by mixing snow or shaved ice with fruit preserved in honey. He substituted honey for sugar and added salt for a better consistency.
![Here we also have our versions](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/7WEHUOM2J5F6HG6RZ77NNSICNI.jpeg?auth=f7bfcd6b27778f050c3568c4eeafdb00a25b4824aa5320e3fa4359811d9024eb&width=414)
This is how people eat today
If you don’t know it yet, the ice cream sandwich is the size of a hamburger with bread, eating it requires some skill to cover the entire thing in a large bite and at the same time prevent the ice cream from spilling over the sides. The scene is somewhat indecorous, it must be said; but experiencing the contrast of the slightly crispy warm dough with the coldness of the cream melting on the palate is what this is all about.
Brioches and croissants with ice cream are in fashion. The 2024 food and beverage trends report from the Bidfood distribution group He groups them within the category of “enjoyable food,” and explains it like this: “With economic uncertainty putting pressure on consumers’ pockets, but at the same time a growing taste for adventure, people seek to live new experiences when they go out to eat. Inventions like the ice cream burger not only attract attention on social media, but also spark diners’ imaginations, allowing chefs to be creative and experiment.”
Many formats, different schools
There are those who grill the brioche to generate a temperature contrast. The pastry chef Jordi Roca in his stores Rocambolesc –available only in store–, encloses the ice cream in a sealed and toasted crunchy brioche. In the Florentine chain Badiani 1932 (several locations, consult website), With the award for the best artisanal ice cream in the world, the ice cream sandwich is a butter croissant opened in half, with two scoops inside, pistachio sauce and pieces of nuts and chocolate on top.
Inspired by cornetos, Italian croissants filled with jam, this snack has gone viral in its London ice cream shops. They have been offering it in the four stores in Barcelona for just over a month and it is already a notable success. Florence Maneschi, Director of Business Development at Badiani Spain, suggests eating it with the Buontalenti flavor, an exclusive ice cream from the brand that contains milk, cream, sugar and egg.
![The French croissant is the ice cream cone at Maison Kayser](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/GLXZ5ZKHJJAP7KAKQXF7S3ZZBU.jpg?auth=1069366c1cc8a5d4efa8d8e4aefe4c26d8695a321785ffd99e737fe7feedaafc&width=414)
In the French pastry-bakeries Maison Kayser (several locations) in Madrid open their famous croissant vertically near the tip, cut off one of the peaks and hollow out a part of the interior to make room for the ice cream. Last year they blew it up, selling hundreds of these. crolates per day in all their stores, and this year they are going the same way. María Fraile, production director of the pastry shop founded by Eric Kayser in Paris, and with a presence in 20 countries, explains that the idea arose from the desire of its customers to have ice cream in the summer. Instead of incorporating the sale of an ice cream brand, “we wanted to do something more our own, and we chose to combine our best-selling product, the crispy artisan croissant, golden on the outside and well honeycombed on the inside, with an ice cream that everyone likes.” world”.
In Morreig (Verdi, 25. Map) have created a version of the cone with the croissant dough that holds three scoops of ice cream: the specialty of this establishment in the Grácia neighborhood of Barcelona is sweet fermented doughs with French influence, and artisan ice creams. One of the owners is Matthieu Atzenhoffer, which holds the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France Boulanger (MOF). His partner, the pastry chef Alba Ceamanos, makes ice cream with seasonal ingredients. Regarding the combination of pastries and ice cream, they say that it is a very convenient way to eat ice cream, because the brioche collects it well and collects what is melting, explains Atzenhoffer. “The croissant is also a good option because, like the brioche, it has the ability to absorb the ice cream while mixing with its own aromas and crunchy texture.”
Happiness for two
If eating ice cream brings happiness, is eating it with a brioche or a croissant the Shangri-La? “An ice cream creates a lot of happiness, and a good piece of pastry too,” argues Albert Roca of Sant Croi –with premises in Barcelona and Hospitalet, consult website–, pastry chef twice winner of the award for Best Butter Croissant in Spain (2009 and 2018), and in 2022 champion of Spain in Artisanal Ice Cream. “The question in these cases is: when does it add and when does it subtract?” It adds up when you combine a good ice cream and a good pastry dough. “In the end it is an association between two incredibly good things, but if one is deficient, it subtracts,” he explains from the ice cream school which he runs in Sant Boi de Llobregat. Will it be a passing fad in Spain or will it last? “In brioche it will remain, and in croissant I am not very sure,” he adds.
About the long-term possibilities of this sandwich in the national setting, Juan Perucho, owner of the Sicilian ice cream parlor Zuccaru from Madrid together with Rossana Dell’Utri, reflects that in Spain ice cream is perceived as a treat to snack between meals. “We usually eat many things with our hands and on the fly: tapas, pepitos, sandwiches, pita… but in Spain ice cream and pastries are associated with a dessert, which in many cases is shared.” Even so, she perceives that there are more and more people demanding her brioscias with ice cream compared to when it opened its first store in the Royal Palace in 2017.
Emanuele Valentino, owner of the gelateria Valentino in Valencia –consult stores– also recognizes a change in trend. “In the last two years, we have noticed growth in the sale of the brioscia Sicilian, partly because people travel more and are more open to trying new things.” He believes that social networks also have a share of responsibility. “The majority of Spaniards are unaware of this type of product, but when they see it, it catches their attention, they try it, and many repeat it.”
![You can enjoy this 'brioscia' in Valencia](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/SZ4IVNYKTNBWVNOQ7OE7P76F3Y.jpg?auth=e9bbebb3cf2c463f9ab2d5fd780a5fa60f13cf78a89a3201616dc1c9ed7f5a07&width=414)
An unexpected classic in Alicante
In an unexpected twist of script, in Alicante the sandwich with ice cream is a traditional sandwich of the Blue Horchateria (C. Calderón de la Barca, 38. Map), one of the most famous in the city. “For us, the bun with ice cream is not new, it has been a snack for many years.” Her parents made it when they ran the business, they introduced it to Alicante and made it fashionable, Mari Ángeles Sorribes tells us. Ella, her sister Inma, and her son Pepo, are the third and fourth generation at the helm of this almost 100-year-old establishment near the Central Market, dedicated to the artisanal production of horchata and slushies.
The difference with what their parents made is that before they put cut ice cream in the bun, but now it has a very large ball. The brioche in this case is very similar to a Swiss bun, which they buy from a neighboring bakery (also third generation). This bun, or “summer burger” as many of its customers call it, is one of the star products of the horchateria. On weekends, they ship more than a hundred a day and even have a reserve list. Like its Sicilian counterparts, in this corner of the Mediterranean summer consists of indulging in an indulgent bite of the best ice cream between two pieces of bread.
Follow El Comidista on TikTok, instagram, x, Facebook either Youtube.
#Pastries #ice #cream #places #enjoy #Sicilian #tradition #rise #Spain