Gelateria Opening Planned For Late Spring At Freehold-Area Bakery

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ — You never have much time to rest in the bakery business.

And the Settepani family of Bruno's Bakery is twice as busy these days, taking on the twin tasks of preparing lots of holiday delicacies while planning for the opening of a gelateria later in April.

The exact date for the gelato shop isn't firmed up yet. There are furnishings to be ordered and products to be scheduled, the bakery says.

But once warm weather hits, the gelateria, right off the bakery, will be another fun facet of the business that opened less than six months ago.

Bruno’s Gelateria will serve homemade gelato and sorbetto, all with imported ingredients from Italy, a spokesperson for the bakery said.

The Settepani family opened Bruno's Italian Bake Shop and Gelateria at 356 W. Main St. in mid-November, not far from Freehold Borough. The family business originated with spots in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Bruno’s Bakery is helmed by father-and-son team Biagio Settepani and Joseph Settepani.

Here are some Easter and holiday traditions being offered at the bakery:

• Colomba di Pasqua, or Easter dove bread, originating in Lombardy, Italy. The sweetbread is studded with citrus peel; gilded with a shiny coat of sugar-nut syrup, then sprinkled with almonds, and pearl sugar. Bruno’s fills their Colomba with a candied citron peel. This sweetbread is considered the cousin of the Christmas panettone and also can be toasted for breakfast (or any time).
• Chocolate Easter eggs are all homemade with Cacao Barry imported chocolate in large molds and wrapped in festive springtime wrappings - nice enough to use as table decor before they are gone.
• Easter butter cookie cutouts made in spring florals and bunnies are also available for baskets or individually wrapped for gifts.
• Hand-crafted fruit marzipans and special lamb marzipan figurines just for Easter are locally known in Sicily as “agnelli pasquali” or “pecorelle di pasqua.” The figurine is molded from marzipan and often filled with pistachio paste. One distinct characteristic of the Easter sweet is the red flag, a symbol of victory over death.
• Italian bomboloni are Italian doughnuts with many different seasonal fillings from jams to velvety custards and light fluffy creams. One spring flavor Joseph Settepani has created is a super-tart lemon-blueberry custard.

Besides these spring specialties, the bakery offers a selection of Italian and French classics with cookies, pies, pastries and cakes that are also made to order by request, the bakery says.