PANE DI PASQUA

Italian Easter Bread

Colouring the eggs for this was a challenge. It boils down to the quality of food colouring you use. The more natural ones are those that stain less. What worked for me was to first clean the eggs with alcohol (I used vodka), leaving them to dry, then using food colouring in powder form. I dipped the brush in a little water, then into the powder and painted away. The eggs dry immediately. You can use other colorants, but just be ready to stain your fingers. In traditional recipes, the eggs that are coloured are raw. They bake in the oven and cook to a perfect “hard-boiled” consistency. However, they might crack. I used raw and one out of four cracked. A safer way would be to boil them beforehand, let them cool, then paint them.

YOU WILL NEED:

500g plain flour • 150g sugar

100g soft butter • 2 eggs

100ml warm milk • 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoon lemon zest

FOR THE TOPPING: egg wash (1 egg beaten with some milk) 4 coloured eggs • sprinkles

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and lemon zest. Add the butter, eggs, and warm milk, and mix until well combined. Knead the dough either by hand or in the mixer using a hook attachment, for ten minutes.

2. Cover the dough and let it rest for 2-3 hours until it is half as large again, or doubles in size.

3. Knock it back and let it rest for 10 minutes. Cut it into 4 equal pieces (I weighed them, to be precise) and roll each piece into long strip of about 60cm. Fold the strips in half and twist them onto each other, then join the ends to form a ring.

4. Place the dough rings on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, cover it and let it prove for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 185°C. Gently brush the surface with egg wash, then place the coloured egg in the middle and scatter with sprinkles. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the bread is golden.