The Fresh Loaf

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Colomba di Pasqua Single Wing

albacore's picture
albacore

Colomba di Pasqua Single Wing

Somehow or other I landed on an Italian web page with a recipe for Colomba di Pasqua. Being nearly Easter, it did seem like a good time to make an Easter dove. Besides, I wanted to send my sister a birthday present, having not seen her for a long, long time - like so many people.

This is the recipe, found on the giallozafferano website. I figured that this must be a well tested recipe, since it has well over a thousand comments! It's a yeasted recipe (I used SAF Gold), but nevertheless, fairly complex.

First problem - no mould and no time to order paper ones. Answer: make one! I liked the look of a single winged metal one that I saw a picture of, so with a piece of scrap thin aluminium sheet, a pair of tin snips and a pop-riveter, the dove was born. All done free-form and the head is a little small, but I was happy enough with it.

And here is the dove at the end of final proof:

And after baking:

Out of the tin after cooling for a few minutes:

No crumb shot, as this was going off as a present, but I did make a small sister loaf with excess dough:

 

Lance

Comments

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Love the DIY ingenuity in this bake!  (Bread looks good too... ?)

Kistida's picture
Kistida

Thanks for the link to the recipe. I trust Google can help me with some of the ingredients. ?

I like yours much more than the Pane di Pasqua I made last week. The eggs I placed on the dough were dyed with turmeric and they turned an unpretty shade of brown after baking. Good thing it was really tasty.

- Christi

Benito's picture
Benito

Really well done Lance.  I’ve been scared to try a sourdough leavened panettone but a yeasted one might be a good way to try.  You did a great job at your custom dove mold, it is very effective.  The crumb on your panettone looks perfect to me, how do you like the flavour?  Did you candy your own fruit?

Benny

albacore's picture
albacore

Christi, let me know if you need any help with ingredient deciphering. The only ones I had to give a bit of thought to were the amido di mais (= cornstarch) and the farina di mais fioretto, which I reckon is fine cornmeal/polenta. Make sure you use a very high protein white bread flour. And the sugar should be fine, but not powdered. The right grade is called "caster sugar" in the UK.

Oh, and when you mix to develop gluten in the stand mixer (3o impasto), the trick is to mix until the dough mass leaves the sides of the bowl and is just touching at the bottom. It will take quite a while. Confirm the gluten development with a windowpane test. I prefer to get to this stage before adding the fruit - not quite as the recipe. Then incorporate fruit on slowest.

Benny, yes flavour is great, very aromatic, just the right sweetness and not overburdened with fruit.

I used half sultanas/half golden raisins plus (as you surmised) homemade candied peel from my frozen stash - it makes such a difference to the flavour.

 

Lance

Matt H's picture
Matt H

That crumb looks amazing, very professional.  Not easy to get such a beautiful texture in an enriched dough. Kudos.

Carlo_Panadero's picture
Carlo_Panadero

Very creative!!! Very nice bake!