Name: Italian Easter Bread
Yield: Yield: 4 loaves, 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g) each
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 7 ounces (200 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature; ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) fiori di sicilia or orange flower water; 10 egg yolks (⅞ cup/210 ml); 6 ounces (170 g) candied orange peel, finely diced; Grated zest of 1 lemon; 3 ounces (85 g) granulated sugar; Simple syrup; 1¼ cups (300 ml) warm milk (105° to 115°F/40° to 46°C); 10 ounces (285 g) whole blanched almonds; 2 ounces (55 g) fresh compressed yeast; 1½ tablespoons (22 g) salt; 1 pound 8 ounces (680 g) bread flour; granulated sugar; Powdered sugar

Preparation info

Yield:
4
loaves, 1 pound 2 ounces each

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Professional Pastry Chef

By Bo Friberg

Published 1989

About

This sweet Italian bread, also called Columba Pasquale or Easter Doves, is made from a dough very much like panettone. The shape, however, differs a great deal. Veiled with crystallized sugar and studded with whole almonds, these loaves are formed to resemble a dove in flight.

As is often the case when one travels far back in history, several stories can be found regarding the origin of this bread. One places it in Milan around 1176 and says the bread was created to ce