Here is the Easter Colomba recipe (perfect for those who have time)

The Easter dove is a typical product that cannot be missed on our tables: let’s find out together how to prepare it at home with the original recipe!

From north to south, the dove is an Easter cake that everyone agrees on. Soft and fragrant , it cannot be missing on our tables. The Easter Colomba recipe can be a bit laborious if you are not used to large leavened products , but I am sure that the result will pay off for the efforts made.

Today we prepare the colomba with brewer’s yeast, which is the easiest and fastest way to prepare this Easter cake without too much effort. The result will be amazing and you will stop buying the packaged one!

How to prepare the Easter dove

1. Let’s start by preparing the first dough , a kind of leavening. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in the milk and water.
2. Add 140 g of flour, mix quickly and let rise covered in the oven with the light on for two hours .
3. Then transfer the dough into the bowl of a planetary mixer equipped with a dough hook . Turn it on at low speed and stir in 20 g of sugar, then 160 g of flour. When these two ingredients have blended, add 20 g of butter at room temperature. Let the machine work until the dough is strung . Then transfer it to a bowl after giving it the shape of a ball and put it to rise again in the oven off with the light on until doubled .
4. Return the dough to the bowl with the hook and add the sugar. When it is incorporated, add the remaining flour (150 g) and finally the eggs with a pinch of salt. Finally add the butter in chunks, one piece at a time, waiting for the previous one to be absorbed before adding more. Flavor with vanilla and add the candied orange peel . Let the machine work until the dough is strung . The times vary according to the power of the planetary from 10 to 20 minutes.
5. Then transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, spread it out slightly and, imagining dividing it into three vertical rectangles, bring first the one on the right and then the one on the left onto the central one. You will have done the reinforcement folds . Put the dough to rise in a bowl, covered with film, in the refrigerator for 16 hours , then for another 3 hours in the oven off with the light on.
6. At this point divide the dough into two equal parts. With one, form a loaf that you will place in the center of the mold to form the body . The other instead will be divided in two to form two smaller loaves to put in the spaces of the wings . Put it back to rise in the oven for 3 hours.
7. When the dove has almost reached the edge of the mold, prepare the glaze . Blend the hazelnuts and the peeled almonds with the flour and sugar. Add the cornstarch and egg whites, mixing by hand. Pour it over the dough and decorate with sugar grains and whole almonds .
8. Bake at 160 ° C for 55 minutes and, once taken out of the oven, skewer it with long irons, just like it is customary to do with panettone, and let it cool suspended and upside down.

Your homemade Easter dove is ready to be served at the end of your Easter menu.

Do you have little time? Then we recommend the easy version of the colomba : the one without leavening. Instead, for a more delicious variant , here is the chocolate colomba !

How to make an Easter dove at home? Little tips of realization

The recipe of the artisan colomba is certainly not a walk in the park, in fact we recommend trying to prepare it only for those who are really used to dough , stringing and leavening . If you need some advice then this is the place.

The right processing of each dough will allow you to reach the desired level of levitation which at the end of the recipe will make your dove look almost like the packaged ones . If, following our resting times, the various doughs do not appear leavened at the right point, you must not despair: recreating the same humidity and temperature conditions is not easy but do not give up. The advice is to leave a little more time for the dove or it may be that the pasta has not been strung properly.

How to know when the dough is strung? When it has absorbed all the ingredients well, it is smooth to the eye, it attaches to the hook of the mixer and, pulling a piece of it, does not break immediately.

Cooking the homemade Easter dove is also important. Pay close attention to your oven, only if you know it well will you know whether to increase or decrease the times recommended by us. Having said this, it is also good to remember that the fundamental part is however, in addition to the various dough and leavening steps, that of resting and cooling the finished product. Turning the dove over is essential so that it remains swollen and does not collapse on itself. Do it as soon as it comes out of the oven and leave it in this state for a long time (we also recommend 8-10 hours ) so that it completely cools down and stabilizes. Only then bring it back to the right position and serve it on the table (or wrap it up and give it to whomever you prefer).

storage

Whole and well sealed, or under a cake bell, the dove remains soft even for 4-5 days . Cut, we remind you to wrap it in cling film and keep it for about 2-3 days at the most.

History and origins of the Easter sweet dove

It might upset you, but the traditional colomba was initially born from a panettone company, one of the most famous and which begins with the M as Motta. It was in the thirties of 190 0 when the company’s advertising manager proposed a very similar dessert for the Easter period in order to reuse the machinery and doughs without substantial modifications. Even the Milanese Angelo Vergani took up the recipe again in 1944 and still today his company prepares Easter doves and was one of the architects of the fortune of this leavened cake which is now also known outside Italy.