How about we prepare some doves that are a bit different from the usual? Today I propose some Easter doves prepared with the same dough as Calabrian cuzzupe (but using butter instead of lard).
The Easter doves are a cute idea to use as place settings or to create a special breakfast for Easter and Easter Monday.
The most elaborate part of the Easter doves recipe is not the preparation of the dough, but the creation of the doves.
But now let’s proceed in order, and start with the dough.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (may vary, use as much as needed to make a soft dough)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 7 tbsps butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 lemon zest (grated)
- Half glass milk
- as needed colored sprinkles
- as needed dark chocolate chips
Preparation of Easter Doves
To prepare our Easter doves we first take care of the dough: put the softened butter, lemon zest, milk, and sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment (of course, this recipe can be made by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer); start the machine and, when everything is well mixed, add the eggs one by one, slightly beaten so they are easier to incorporate.
When you have a smooth cream, add the sifted flour with baking powder and salt and knead just long enough to obtain a homogeneous dough. Now continue working with your hands, the dough should be soft but not sticky (adjust with flour if more is needed). Now continue working on the board.
Once ready, wrap everything in plastic wrap and place the dough in the fridge for an hour (this step will help to shape the dough better in the subsequent steps and to maintain the shape we will give our doves).
After the time has passed, take the dough and divide it into pieces of 3 oz, and start forming cylinders about 10 inches long. Make a knot by pulling out the two ends a bit, the tail should be a bit longer. Flatten the end, which will be the tail of our dove that we will cut into 3 parts.
Then create a beak on the head part, and insert chocolate chips to form the eyes. Place our Easter doves on a baking tray, brush them with a beaten egg yolk mixed with milk, and sprinkle with colored sprinkles.
Bake the doves in a preheated oven at 356°F for about 20 minutes.
Once ready, take them out of the oven, let them cool, and serve them… Such a nice and really good breakfast!!!
