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
- Bring the eggs to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, put the warm water and yeast together and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture ferment for 10 minutes.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Punch the dough down and knead for several minutes until smooth. Place it in a greased colomba pan.
- 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.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Brush the dove bread all over with the egg white. Sprinkle with the almonds, and pearl sugar or brown sugar.
- Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown.
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Top Photo credit – Giulia Robert @Flickr.com
