The brioche dough doves, much like the sweet Easter wreaths, are a fun and cute idea to offer as breakfast or snack during the Easter period.
Their not overly sweet taste makes them particularly suitable for being filled with various creams and jams.
I prepared the dough with a stand mixer, however, it can easily be worked by hand by placing the ingredients in a bowl and then transferring them to a pastry board.
The basic ingredients are a mix of flours of Manitoba and 00, sugar, milk, yeast, eggs, and butter. If you wish, you can also decide to add various flavors such as vanilla and/or orange zest.
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then…let’s cook and eat!!
Also see
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for 10 doves
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups Manitoba flour
- 0.53 oz fresh yeast
- 0.33 cup sugar
- 4.4 oz plain yogurt
- 0.66 cup milk (+ more for the surface)
- 1 egg yolk (+ 1 more for the surface)
- 3.5 tbsp butter
- as needed chocolate chips (for the eyes)
- as needed powdered sugar (for the surface)
Tools
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Pastry board
- 1 Kitchen scale
- 1 Metal scraper
- 1 Cooling rack
- 1 Brush silicone
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Parchment paper
- 1 Toothpicks
Steps
To prepare the brioche dough doves, start by placing the two flours, sugar, yeast dissolved in warm milk, yogurt, and egg yolk in the bowl of the stand mixer.
Attach the paddle and start mixing at low speed.
Once the dough has come together, replace the paddle with the hook and continue mixing, adding the butter, one piece at a time, letting it absorb completely before adding the next piece. Once all the butter is incorporated, increase the mixer’s speed and work the dough until it clings to the hook.
Transfer it to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours (until doubled).
Once risen, deflate the dough and divide it into pieces of about 3.2 oz each.
From each, make 2 pieces weighing 0.53 oz (for the head) and 2.65 oz (for the body). Shape the smaller piece into a smooth ball and pinch it in one spot to create the dove’s beak.
With the 2.65 oz piece, make a log about 8 inches long that you’ll fold by crossing the ends (see photo). The end placed underneath should be flattened to form the tail, while the other end should be brought towards the center to close the hole (see photo). Insert the head onto the dove’s body and make small cuts on the tail with a bench scraper.
As they are ready, transfer the doves to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them rise for an hour in the oven turned off with the light on.
After this second rise, use a toothpick to create two holes in the center of the head and insert the chocolate chips to recreate the eyes.
Reshape the beak if it disappeared during the rise.
Finally, brush the doves with an egg yolk beaten with a splash of milk and bake them in a preheated static oven at 350°F for 20 minutes.
Once baked, let the doves cool on a rack before dusting them with powdered sugar and enjoying them 😉.
