As Easter festivities approach, the craving for traditional sweets is felt in every home. Among these, the Easter dove represents a symbol of peace and rebirth that cannot be absent from our tables. But what to do when time is short and long proofing scares us? Today I propose a quick and easy recipe to make a homemade Easter dove that will conquer everyone!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter
- Energy 296.97 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 39.22 (g) of which sugars 18.52 (g)
- Proteins 7.52 (g)
- Fat 12.02 (g) of which saturated 6.60 (g)of which unsaturated 5.05 (g)
- Fibers 1.96 (g)
- Sodium 84.74 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups Manitoba flour
- 15 fresh brewer's yeast
- 1/3 cup milk (warm)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 9 tbsps butter (soft)
- 3 eggs
- orange zest (grated)
- vanilla (extract or seeds)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup candied fruit (or chocolate chips)
- almonds (for decoration)
- sugar granules (for decoration)
- 2 tbsps rum
Tools
- Mold
- Spatula
- Stand Mixer
Steps
Amount of ingredients to prepare the first dough for a 750 g mold.
Procedure:
Start with the pre-dough: Dissolve the yeast in 2 tbsps of warm milk, then mix it with 1/3 cup of Manitoba flour. Form a dough, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise in the oven (preheated to 212°F/100°C and then turned off) for an hour or until its volume has doubled.
Prepare the dough: Place 2 cups of flour into the stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. Add lemon and orange zest, vanilla seeds, sugar, one egg, half of the butter cut into pieces and start mixing, also adding the remaining milk. Once a dough is formed, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours
Final processing: Put the dough back into the stand mixer, add the remaining flour, salt, butter, Rum, and the remaining 2 eggs. Mix and then add the candied fruit.
Divide the obtained dough into three parts: one larger for the body and two smaller for the wings of the Dove
After letting it rise for another two hours, until the dough reaches the mold’s edge, it’s time to prepare the glaze. In a stand mixer, mix sugar with egg whites and add 80 g of previously chopped almonds. Then spread the glaze over the risen dove, using a spatula. Finally, decorate with whole almonds and bake at 320°F/160°C in a static oven for 50-55 minutes. Once baked, let it cool on a rack until completely dry.
Storage and Notes
To keep the Easter dove fresh longer, we recommend wrapping it carefully with plastic wrap so that no air gets in and it doesn’t dry out. Alternatively, you can use a food bag and store it for a couple of days. Also, you can freeze the dove dough after the last rising and defrost it later in the fridge to bring it back to room temperature before putting it in the mold.
