The Fresh Loaf

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Pizza Civitavecchia

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Pizza Civitavecchia

Here is the Italian Easter bread we found online to bake with the GMA’s, also less widely known as The 3 Twisted Sisters.  http://crumbsoflove.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/pizza-civitavecchia-italian-easter-sweet-bread/

 

This was a really fun Easter bake as we got to use the wife’s KA to mix it all up, paddle it to death and then hook it some too – at least we didn’t dirty up the whisk but with 5 left over egg whites we might.   

 

We also found a recipe that is probably an older, more authentic and much less healthy version that we didn’t make.  http://www.piciecastagne.it/2012/03/30/pizza-di-pasqua-di-civitavecchia/  But it sure sounded decadent even in Italian.  What we noticed most was the very bold and dark bake this bread seems to have.  I guess you get that after 1 ¼ hours in the heat!

 

First off I made a 10 hour counter top biga with a pinch of year and 75 g each of AP  and water where the recipe called for a lot, a huge amount of yeast for me and a 1 hour sponge.  I don’t even keep that much yeast so I always sub a long biga thinking the flavor would be better.

 

The 2nd thing I changed was to add a 100% hydration, 100g SD multi-grain levain that was at full strength but cold after being in the fridge for 24 hours.  This was added at the dough hook and mix in the butter stage.  The recipe said it should double in size at the first stage in 2 hours.

 

My kitchen is at 82 F the perfect temperature for yeast and it rise about 25 % instead of 100% so I figure a little SD would only improve things and add to overall taste and keeping qualities – plus I just felt bad making an Italian sweet bread sort of like panettone and not getting some SD in there.

 

Lucy said Michael Wilson would have done the same thing so that was al lit took to get it out of the fridge.  I was going to make a bread with it needing 240 g but I just fed it again along with some YW levain I found in there too.  The multi-grains included, barley, wheat, spelt, farro, rye, oat, buckwheat.

 

Who knows, maybe a multi-grain combo YW SD bread will happen early next week since the flour is already ground and sifted to make an 85% extraction something.  But those sacaduros rolls might just win out since I’ve never heard of them before and they look cute.  Back to this bake,

 

The final rise was supposed to take 1 ½ hours but it took 6 hours even with the extra SD punch and the perfect temperatures.  No worries - the 6 hours had to be the best thing that could happen for the SD add.  We glazed the top with egg whites and turbinado sugar. 

 

It baked up nice and brown and we waited for the sloped top this bread is supposed to be famous for - with a collapsed middle.  Well it only happened in Lucy's dreams and not a problem if baked to 202 F on the inside middle it seems.  It smells deliciously of anise,  is sweet even though their isn't all that much sugar in it and is moist with an open crumb.  The browned crust is just the best tasting part by far.  Can't wait to have breakfast toast with some marmalade .....yummy!

The breakfast way indeed yummy.  A Denver omelet with aged white cheddar cheese, sausage, bacon, mango, strawberries, cantaloupe, half a minneola and this fine bread with home made marmalade.

 The half a red beef tamale and half a green chicken enchilada and home made mixed beans with your favorite hot sauce is a favorite around here for dinner - and Lucy says not to forget the salad.

 

Comments

gmabaking's picture
gmabaking

Looks really good- we all knew you would be creative with the ingredients and it looks like they all play really well together! Just starting to corrupt some previously innocent golden raisins and get started. Will have to check out that older recipe though. The Hot Cross Buns look wonderful. You and Lucy make such a good team.

Happy Easter

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

corrupt my mixed fruits; raisins and cranberries, with some home made limoncello which went well with the lemon zest and Italian flavor of this fine bread. i was worries the SD would throw it off and that the a huge amount of anise would be too much but both works out pretty well.  The older recipe has lard in it so you know it is an original and delicious :-)

Glad you liked the HC buns Barbara they too were tasty   Can't wait to see the 3 sister's baking Pizza Civitavecchia together.  I'm sure all 3 will be different yet yummy.  The strangest pizza of all time and little more thick than like!  The taste of this bread is unusual as it is delicious.... and it is fun to make.

Happy Baking and Happy Easter

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

  These two pictures are Barb's beautiful bread.

  And mine! This was a fun bake too. Thanks DAB for the idea... very interesting... the great rise after putting it in the bowl was like a science experiment... I never saw anything rise like that !!!

Diane 

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

uniformly perfect - the best I have seen in a bread like this - mine was a little dense on the very bottom for some reason.  It is amazing how much it rises and how much it springs - it has some Panettone genes in it for sure,  Then you made a huge donut shaped one that has a fine crumb too.  Biggest Pizza Donut of all time!  Amazing how this bread tastes..... the anise is very nice aroma wise to.  Glad the GMA's had fun in Civitaveccia.

Happy baking

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

Mine was only half the recipe... so it is not so tall... but it is some tasty bread... looking forward to the toast... I agree Barb's crumb is wonderful. Your pictures DAB are astounding with all that detail and color and plating combinations... You should teach classes in "dishing it all up (or out)" ! Good job.

Diane

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Barb's idea - i just joined in because I have never heard if this bread before, new stuff goes right to the top of the bake list and it is fun to make with the GMA's :-)

mwilson's picture
mwilson

That crumb is angelic!

gmabaking's picture
gmabaking

I sent my sisters a picture of the bread after seven minutes in the oven. It was climbing out of the pan and overflowing onto the cookie sheet that thankfully I had used to move the paper panettone pan.  I don't think the pan was overfilled, less than half full maybe even around a third full. Much more used to sd and not this super energy commercial yeast. Looking forward to seeing what it looks like in another half hour or so.

post script

It turned out to be a rich dark golden brown with a slanting dome. It rose to a little over the top of the panettone pan and then kind of rolled out a little over the sides to make a muffin top. The crumb is light and airy like a panettone, probably too light for French Toast although I think there is little chance that it will be around long enough to test that theory. The taste is really good, I thought that much anise would overpower everything but it is a pleasant undernote instead. Fun baking with my sisters and dabrownman.

Wishing you all the blessings of this Easter morning and many years of Happy Baking!

Barbra

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

and I'm sure there is French toast lined up for Lucy this week.  I let mine rise to where the middle was level with the inside rim of the souffle pan and it really sprang well from there - but not overflowing.  I think the SD calmed it down some.  Can't wait to see your triple efforts for this fine looking and tasting bread.

The anise really is nice and I too thought that it would just overpower everything but it is just right.

Happy Easter to your and yours Barbra ans Lucy and I look forward to baking with the Twisted Sisters for a long time to come.

golgi70's picture
golgi70

Looks like a nice twist on Panettone there.  Never heard of this bread/pastry before.  I think your decrease on yeast and added sourdough was a great choice and will probably keep this one fresh for longer than it will last.  

Nice Bake

Josh

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Civitavecchia was Rom's port and Michelangelo designed and built the fort for the port.  I suppose having a bread named after this important city is not too unusual for Italy.  The anise gives it a great taste and not overpowering at all - quite unbelievable though.  I'm glad we added the SD too,  You don'tt taste it but it will make it keep so much better.  Already froze 3/4th of it and have eaten the other quarter:-)  Just delicious.

 

Glad you liked it Josh and Happy Baking

Isand66's picture
Isand66

That's some over-sized Easter Muffin!  Looks great and sounds like it will be great for French Toast.

Happy Easter.

Regards,
ian

mwilson's picture
mwilson

It worked out ok then! Good you got some SD in there. Very intriguing this "Pizza", will have to try it myself..

Michael

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

there too and that it did work out well.  Don't know why, perhaps you or Barbara can explain how you both get such a perfect crumb throughout\?  The bottom 1/2" of my loaf was dense and compressed for some reason.  What causes that?  I don't know if there was anything we could have done except let it proof even longer?  It isn't like you can shape this wet dough very much but maybe we should have tried a little harder with floured hands to shape it?

Now we have Civitavecchia for Easter and Panettone for Christmas!

Happy Baking Michael