La Colomba, Pasqua e una semplice domenica in famiglia
Easter has been one week ago… and it was the peaceful holiday day with the family that it used to be. After a long week in the kitchen cooking and shooting I finally relax… cooking for my family and taking picture of my mum piece of art… “The Sourdough Easter Dove Cake”. I know… I know… I never stop. But I may say, in my defense, that actually I really took it easy: I enjoyed to cook for my family, chatting with my Grandma in the meanwhile I was deep frying the artichokes. I was preparing my fav “Carciofi alla Giudia“, Roman traditional recipe (here the recipe and a nice story told from Haley a chef and photographer I had the pleasure to spend time with, some days before Easter) and discussing with my mum… yes, in the Italian way, yes… a bit yelling in the kitchen. No worry, just a small incomprehension about pasta and how to bake it in the right way… all finished when guests arrived and we were all eating at the holiday table.
(Handcraft white table cloth, painted eggs collection of latest Easter Sundays, special chinaware for special days… and a Barolo bottle of wine. Spoiled me).
Speaking about my mum, she is the one that love to bake using the sourdough and it was a month ago when I propose to her to prepare an homemade Easter Dove. I knew she need time to adsorb the idea, find the recipe and prepare the sourdough in the right way.
She spend some days looking for the perfect recipe and finally she find it on “La cuochina sopraffina“, italian food Blogger and here I translate the recipe for you.
The only difference is that we decided to make it with dark chocolate chips and they completely melt during the preparation of the dough… Mistake but not really a bad one, in the end. We had so a chocolate Easter Dove Cake, delicious and unusual one.
Easter Dove Cake… (my mum way)
(quantity for 2 cakes, 500g each)
First dough
– 90 grams of sourdough
– 60 grams of sugar
– 50 grams of egg yolks
– 100 grams of water
– 65 grams of butter
– 250 grams of flour Manitoba
Second dough
– 60 grams of sugar
– 5 grams of honey
– 25 grams of water
– 50 grams of egg yolks
– 125 grams of flour
– 4 grams of salt
– 50 grams of melted butter
– 130 grams of chocolate chips
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the icing
– sweet Almond
– icing sugar
– 2 egg whites
Feed the sourdough starte, a couple of times (close to each other ) and the last one the night before starting with the cake. Close it in a film plastic layer and with a kitchen cloth, using a kitchen string.
In the morning it will be puffy, open all the layers and put the yeast in bowl.
Melt it with warm water. Add the sugar and half the egg yolks then begin kneading, we used the kitchen aid with the hook on. When the dough is starting to come together add the flour, when dry add one egg yolk at the time then stir in the butter (cold and diced) Once well mixed, take the dough, form a kind of ball and let rise in a clean kichen cloth and let it rise until double in volume (around 1o hours) .
(That’s the light early in the morning in my kitchen. Still wearing our pajamas, my mum opened the roll with the sourdough started (almost exploding out of thew wrapping), me taking pictures without even having breakfast yet (I am glad I was able to point and shoot… without forgetting to put a memory card in).
After 20′ of kneading with the Kitchen Aid my mum rolled the dough by hand in a ball shape and let it rest for 1 hour.
Then, add to the first dough and mix it sugar, honey, water and half the egg yolks . Add flour working until the dough is dry. Add the egg yolks remaining so in the end even the salt, melted butter vanilla extract and candied fruit.
Let the second dough rest for 1 hour and then put it into the mold special and let rise for 5 hours.
Then spread the frosting on the surface. Bake for 1 hour at 190 degrees, turn off and let it cool.
And here the amazing result. It is a long preparation, but It’s amazing the scent of this old traditional Easter cake that is in the air when baking.
We start to eat it , in the morning during our traditional Italian Easter Breakfast. The only breakfast where we eat all together, we fix the table with painted eggs and flowers, we eat savory and sweet dish. I actually prepare pancakes too (not traditional at all).
Hope you would try to prepare it too.
(To do these eggs I used just some sharpies and I relaxed while I was watching a movie…. “Chocolat” is perfect movie before Easter Sunday)
