An Easter tradition in Italy is to make a dove-shaped sweet bread, or Colomba di Pasqua, which symbolizes peace and the Holy Spirit. It is to Easter what panettone is to Christmas. It is usually made in a dove-shaped pan, but if you don’t have one you can shape the dough by hand.

This recipe uses fiori di Sicilia, which is a citrus and vanilla flavored extract with essence of flowers. It can be hard to find so you can substitute vanilla and orange extracts for it.

It also uses pearl sugar, a type of sugar which looks like Brioschi (remember those? We used to eat them like candy when we were little!) but is actually a hardened piece of sugar which does not melt easily during baking.

Naples and Amalfi Coast Tours

Ingredients
1/4 c warm water
1 T active dry yeast
1/2 c warm milk
2/3 c granulated sugar
1 stick butter, melted
1 T grated lemon zest
1 tsp fiori di Sicilia
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
4 1/2 to 5 cups all purpose unbleached flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 large egg white, slightly beaten
2 T almonds
1 T pearl sugar or coarse brown sugar

1. Bring the eggs to room temperature.
2. In a large bowl, put the warm water and yeast together and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture ferment for 10 minutes.
3. Add the milk, sugar, butter, lemon zest, fiori di Sicilia, whole eggs, and egg yolks and beat on low speed with a mixer to blend well. Then beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
4. Add 4 cups of flour and the salt and beat on medium speed. Gradually add as much flour as is needed, a little at a time, until soft dough is formed.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
6. Punch the dough down and knead for several minutes until smooth. Place it in a greased colomba pan.
7. Cover the pan with a sheet of buttered waxed paper and a towel and let rise in a warm place until almost double the size, about 20 minutes. Do not let it over-rise or the shape will be lost in baking.
8. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
9. Brush the dove bread all over with the egg white. Sprinkle with the almonds, and pearl sugar or brown sugar.
10. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown.

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Top Photo credit – Giulia Robert @Flickr.com