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Homemade Easter Dove Bread, Colomba di Pasqua, quick and easy recipe

Presentation

• Colomba Pasquale or Colomba di Pasqua is a traditional Italian Easter  Bread that can be found in many other European countries too. Colomba di Pasqua (Easter Dove in English) means dove and the shape of the bread resembles a dove in flight.  

• This Italian bread is shaped like a dove with wings outstretched and topped with almonds or other decorative toppings. is made with flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and yeast. This easter bread can be said to be the counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone, and pandoro.

• The original Easter dove recipe has a very long preparation time and a 24-hour leavening. Yet, for those who don't have all this time available, there are variants with short preparation times and are simple enough to be prepared at home. 

• In this blog, we will prepare our Easter dove in a quick way and easy steps and you will be amazed by the result of having a delicious easter dove. 

1. cooking time: 1 h
2. Temperature: 180°C
3. Serving: 8 people
4. Origin: Italy

Homemade Easter Dove Bread, the easy recipe

Here's how to prepare the homemade Easter dove bread with a quick and easy recipe. A dessert that cannot be missed on Easter days. For the mold, you can choose between a paper mold for an Easter dove with a capacity of one kilo of dough or another mold of metal that has the shape of a dove. Good luck!

Ingredients

For the dove dough:

• 450 g flour

• 4 eggs

• 200 g of sugar

• 125 ml vegetable oil

• 200 ml milk

• 1 bag of baking powder

• Lemon zest to taste

• Orange zest to taste

• 1 vial of almond flavor

• 100 g of candied fruit, raisins, or chocolate chips

• 1 pinch of salt

For the icing:

• 2 egg whites 

• 40 g of whole almonds

• 40 g of chopped almonds

• 50 g of powdered sugar

How to make homemade Easter dove bread?

The dough preparation:

. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

. Separate the yolks and egg whites into two different containers. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and mix with an electric mixer for about 5 -10 minutes.

. Add the milk, and the oil and mix everything always using the electric mixer. Then add the lemon and orange grated zest, the almond-flavored vials, and give it a further stir.

. Now begin to add a little at a time the flour and the yeast, mixing gradually with the whisk until the dough is smooth and homogeneous, and at last, add the candied fruit cut into cubes or the chocolate chips and mix the dough.

. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and add them to the previous mixture, stirring gently. Pour the Easter dove mixture into the special mold and put it aside.

The icing preparation:

. We prepare the icing by whipping egg whites, powdered sugar, and almond flour then distribute it delicately on the surface of the dove. Decorate with the granulated sugar and the whole almonds. 

*If you do not want to prepare this icing, you can add the sugar grains and almonds directly to the dove.

. Put your mold in a preheated oven at 180°C and cook for about 1 hour. When it is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool upside down if possible and let it rest until the following day.

How to serve an Easter dove bread?

- An Easter dove "la Colomba di Pasqua" is usually served at the end of an Easter meal as a dessert. Sliced ​​and you may also eat it accompanied by ice cream.

You can keep your Easter dove bread for a couple of days closed in a metal box.

Good Appetite!

      Happy Easter 😀