This bread of gorgeousness is from Rome....

Happy eating!! Errr easter:)

Pizza di Pasqua is common throughout parts of Italy, each region having their own special way of making Easter bread, often with different names.

I made this last year, I made it in August as I was too greedy to wait till Easter:)

It was delicious, I ate most of it myself...

 BUT I felt I could make it better as there were a few tweaks I felt it needed.

My errors, not the wonderful Carol Fields!!

I didn't like the tin I made it in either....

It is a very rich almost cake like recipe, very delicate once baked.

Similar in cakeyness to Panettone and Pandoro but this is definitely more delicate than the other two and I feel more cake like than bready.

NB: All these breads are very dangerous as all are exceptionally delicious .

Because they are not overly sweet breads yet light, they are easily eaten in VERY large quantities....

And I never feel guilty either...

A bit ashamed of quantities consumed though....

Anyhow enough blithering.....

LET US GET ITALIAN YEASTY!!!

 Buona Pasqua!

So what will you need?

You really need a mixer here……….some patience………

 2 rises with about 4-6 hours rising time….

Get the yeasty going...

Waiting, Waiting....

Almost batter like...

For the sponge:

4 tsps dried yeast

1/2 cup of warm water

1/2 cup strong bread flour

Stir the yeast into warm water and allow to get creamy/ frothy usually 10 minutes.

Mix in flour to yeasty mix and combine well.

Cover tightly with gladwrap and let rise for one hour.

It will be very foamy/ soupish and needs to have big bubbles in it.

Ready for Rising....

Sneaky Peek...

ready!!

dome-shaped:)

For The Dough:

4 cups of strong bread flour

pinch of salt

10 egg yolks

1 cup of castor sugar

1/2 cup of milk

zest of 2 lemons

Zest of 3 oranges

2 tsp vanilla

150 g butter softened to room temperature.

Going in the oven....

Baked!!

You really need to use mixer…..

I was mixing for about 2-4 minutes per ingredient unless specified.

Place dry ingredients in a bowl.

Grate zest over the dough so all the oils go into the dough.

Add milk and vanilla to the spongey mix and combine well.

Beat eggs and sugar in a bowl and then add to spongey mix.

Combine well and then add to dry mix forming a soft dough.

Add in butter, 2 tbsps at a time, mixing through each addition.

Beat at low-medium speed for 10 minutes with dough hook if not already using!

I did this in 2-3 goes as not to over use the mixer but my greedygirl is older:)

Dough will be very soft and elasticy.

Mine was like a thick batter but you could see the elasticity in it...

Make sure your molds are very well-greased!!

I placed my dough like batter into the mold and placed on a tray, covered in warm place.

Allow to rise for 3 hours or until dough is doubled in size.

30 minutes before rising finishes, preheat oven to 205 celsius.

I did not do this step below this time but you can if you wish....gently , gently....

Lightly brush top with egg white and sprinkle with raw sugar or full granulated sugar.

In NZ coffee sugar would be good.

Look at the crumb!!!

Gorgeous crust!!

Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Cover tops with tinfoil if too brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 30-60 minutes before removing from tin and be very careful with it.

Set on rack to cool finally...

It is sooooooo nice warm but not the best to slice then:)

I will let you make that choice....

It would be divine with a lick of mascarpone whilst warm:) 

I toasted a piece in the oven the next day and had some ricotta on it....Heavenly!!

Don't forget to ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY!!

Happy Greedybread Easter!!!

Big Bite!!

Yummmm

lovely!!!

Interested in a little more info on Pizza di Pasqua?

Check out Pizza di Pasqua, Flavia's Flavours or .......

My bread hero (and where the original recipe came from) Carol Fields book, "The Italian Baker  

And my prior post on Pizza di Pasqua.

So the last you heard, I was picking up my trailer and just about to get the show on the road.  Well, I haven't quite been 'on the road' baking yet, but I have been using the trailer as an 'at home' bakery in my warehouse/home.  I've sold at the last three Bozeman Winter Farmers' Markets, plus had a couple of other gigs this week.  Below are a few photos to give you a timeline of what's been going on here in Belgrade/Bozeman:

Rye boules from the first market I attended back in February.  This one's for you Eric.

Who would've known I'd meet an Italian pizza guru here in Belgrade?  Friend and top-rate baker Tommaso Damasco spent time both working with me teaching me the proper way to make Pizza Romano, and in turn he learned to laminate and make croissant dough.

A little bit of parmesan to top off the pastries...

Yes, I got out the silver platters and doilies for the Bozeman Film Festival.  I made these Spinach Artichoke puffs and other hors' d'oeuvres for the occasion.  I even wore a collared, button-up shirt to play dress-up, but you'll see no evidence of that.

This is looking into the trailer from the entrance.  The freezer, fridge and ovens are on the left, the sinks are on the right.

Here's a couple of work benches and cooling racks.  The near bench is 2'x4' and  is attached to the generator compartment.  I put flat-iron back splashes (and a side one here) on the wood surfaces to keep flour from getting behind them.  The far table is 2'x6' and to the left of the mixer is an under counter fridge with a 2.5'x4' stainless steel work top.

This is my set-up for the indoor market in Bozeman.  Hot Cross Bun 4-packs, just in time for Easter,  are in the white boxes on the left.

There you go. 

If you want to check out bunches more photos, this is the bakery FB page.  I think I have all the photos set to 'public view' so even if you don't have a FB account I believe you can see them.  Feel free to 'like' the page.  That would be nice :)

Happy baking everyone. 

-Mark
http://SinclairsBakery.com

On and off, I have been working on baguette.

I only bake one small size each time, so my familly won't get tired of eating them ('-'*)

They are all 30% poolish.

I still haven't gotten THE perfect one yet, but enjoy the little progress and findings everytime!

begin to get little edge on the coupe

Above ↑  is my favorite one! 

After a short break from posting in my blog, I am back at the helm.

This weekend I thought I would try a seeded rye that, at first sight a while back, had me drooling since.  Breadsong's post of this bread inspired me to try, bake, devour.

I adjusted the formula to include organic spelt flour, as I did not have any barley flour on hand.  Also, instead of barley malt, I used 50% molasses 50% honey.  This bread may surpass my love for Danish Rye.  It has a dense texture, very pleasant, light flavour, with a touch of sweetness.  I am not usually one for any sweet hints in my bread (unless dried fruit used), especially rye, but it works nicely in this one.  Definitely a new addition to my regular bakes.

The only adjustment I would make is the total amount, as it overflowed a bit in my bread pan.  The original formula is meant to fit into a 9" pan, I only had an 8" on hand.

Baking with the 3 GMA’s again this week for Easter where hot cross buns and babka are on the list.  Good Friday is Hot Cross Bun Day and we decided to make an overnight poolish for the buns and a small 200 g YW dough for the crosses.  The crosses were only 12.5% whole grains trying to make them a shade lighter in color than the buns.

We did 2 sets of S&F’s over 40 minutes to incorporate the bourbon re-hydrated dried; apricots, cranberries and raisins and then let the dough ferment for 1 hour. 

For the crosses we mixed 100 g of YW with 100 g of AP and 25 G of WW with 20 g of sugar and let this ferment on the counter2 hours before the bun dough came together.  We later added 2 g of salt to the mix before final proof of the cross dough.

After the bulk ferment the dough was divided into (4) 150 g pieces and (6) roughly 70 pieces.  The larger pieces were further divided into 4 balls that were placed into ramekins to make clover leaf rolls and make natural seams for the crosses to be placed.  The 70 g rolls were placed into muffing tins where the crossed were laid on top.  

Final proofing of the rolls took 6 hours on the counter before the crosses were placed on top, egg wash applied and placed into the 450 F mini oven with one of Sylvia’s steaming cups.  We baked the muffin tins first followed by the ramekins as the 2nd batch.

After 8 minutes the steam came out and the mini oven was turned down to 425 F, convection this time.  The tins baked for 7 minutes more – 15 minutes total and the ramekins baked for an additional 3 minutes - 18 minutes total.

We juiced ¼ of a lemon onto ¼ C of powdered sugar, stirred and then micro waved the mix for 30 seconds to clarify the glaze.   The buns were un-molded onto a cooling rack as soon as they came out of the oven and then the glaze was brushed on the entire top of the buns while still hot.

These turned out well as a desert roll, warm with butter, and made fine French toast the next morning too.  They are worth the work to make them at least one day a year.

Formula