Easter is definitely the busiest time of year from a culinary point of view.
For a Neapolitan like me, the typical recipes to prepare are many and they also require a lot of time; just think of the casatiello, which I personally let rise for 24 hours to make it more digestible, the sweet casatiello, the pasta pastiera and the more classic grain pastiere (plural is mandatory here since every Neapolitan family bakes on average 3 pastiere for personal use or to give to friends and relatives).
At Easter, of course, the classic colomba cannot be missing, but I have to admit my limits. I leave large leavened doughs to those with more expertise and suitable machines.
Nothing prevents me, however, from preparing for my little girls a faux Easter colomba.
A simple and quick dessert to make that, in shape and flavors (but not in texture!), recalls the classic artisanal colombe.
I stuff mine with candied orange and dark chocolate chips, then sprinkle the surface with almonds and pearl sugar.
Great to have for breakfast in the days leading up to Easter, when the pastiere are still resting to settle their aroma and flavor.
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then… let’s COOK and EAT!!
See also:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking time: 50 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups 00 flour (type 00)
- 1 1/4 cups potato starch
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup milk
- 4.4 oz butter (softened (about 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp))
- to taste orange zest (grated)
- to taste lemon zest (grated)
- 1/3 cup candied orange (chopped)
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 packet (about 16 g / ~4 tsp) baking powder
- to taste almonds
- to taste pearl sugar (coarse sugar)
Tools
- 1 Electric hand mixer
- 1 Mold for colomba
- 1 Bowl
- Lemon zester / grater
Steps
To prepare the faux colomba, place the sugar and softened butter in a bowl and, using an electric hand mixer, cream them together.
Then add the eggs one at a time and, when fully incorporated, add the milk alternating with the mixture of flour and potato starch to which you have already added the baking powder.
Now flavor the batter by adding the grated zest of half an orange and half a lemon, the dark chocolate chips and the chopped candied orange pieces.
Give a final stir with a spatula and pour all the batter into the paper mold shaped like a colomba.
Finish by sprinkling the surface with almonds and pearl sugar as desired.
Bake the faux colomba in a preheated convection oven at 329°F for 45–50 minutes, always doing the toothpick test before removing it from the oven.
Let the faux colomba cool well on a wire rack before serving.
Storage
Keeps for 2–3 days if well sealed in a food storage bag.
