There is a dessert that immediately makes me think of those slow Sundays, with the smell of the oven filling the house: it’s the soft Angelica Cake with chocolate chips, the braided brioche from the legendary Simili sisters. It’s one of those recipes I would never stop making, because it has everything: simplicity, beauty, and that enveloping taste that wins you over at the first bite.😊
And you don’t need to be an expert pastry chef to make it. The Angelica Cake recipe is perfect even if you’re a beginner with yeast doughs. All you need is a bit of patience, genuine ingredients like flour, butter, and eggs, and the desire to make something with love.
In this yeast dough, you can put whatever you like. I included dark chocolate chips, but you can fill it with raisins and candied orange, or raisins or dried fruits. The sweet glaze on top will make it even more special. 😍
I make it when I feel like getting my hands into some dough and doing something that brings joy. The homemade Angelica Cake is so beautiful it looks like it came out of a patisserie… yet its aroma is just that of things made with love.
I truly recommend it: it’s a sweet brioche perfect for breakfast, or even to bring when you’re invited to dinner and want to impress. On the blog, I leave you all the steps explained simply and with various photos. 😉
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 4 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 5 oz Manitoba flour
- 0.35 oz fresh yeast
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tsp acacia honey
- 14 oz Manitoba flour
- 8.5 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tsp salt
- 4.5 oz dark chocolate chips
- 1.8 oz melted butter
- 1.25 cups powdered sugar
- 1 egg white
Tools
- 1 Oven Electrolux oven
- 1 Pot steel saucepan
- 1 Cutting Board ikea cutting board
Steps
To prepare the angelica cake, start with the starter dough: dissolve the fresh yeast in a bowl with the water.
Add the liquids to the flour and incorporate the honey.
Knead all the ingredients well to form a dough ball. Make a cross cut on the dough and cover it with plastic wrap, then let it rise in a turned-off oven with the light on until it doubles in size. This will take about an hour and a half.
Prepare the dough for the Angelica cake by combining milk and eggs in a bowl. After mixing the liquids, add the flour and sugar and start kneading until you get a rough but homogeneous dough.
At this point, you can add the butter, including it a little at a time while kneading.
Only when the first piece is absorbed, add the second piece to the dough, and so on.
Once all the butter is absorbed and the dough is a smooth ball that doesn’t stick, you can add the salt.
Now it’s time for the starter dough: add it in pieces and incorporate it into the dough.
Once you have obtained a nice soft dough ball, let it rise in a turned-off oven with the light on for about 2 hours or until it doubles in volume.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of about 1/8 inch, forming a rectangle, and brush the surface with melted butter.
Add the chocolate chips, or if desired, candied orange zest or raisins, and roll from the longer side.
Once a roll is formed, divide it into two parts, trying not to cut the beginning. At this point, braid the two parts and arrange them in a circle on a baking sheet, joining the ends.
Let it rise in the oven with the light on for an hour and then bake for 20/25 minutes at 356°F in a convection oven.
Prepare the glaze by mixing the egg white with powdered sugar and place it on the angelica cake when it has cooled down.
The Angelica Cake is ready! 😊
