Artisan Easter dove: the recipe for one of the traditional Italian desserts

The artisan Easter dove combines the Italian culinary tradition with the simplicity and taste of leavened products prepared at home with genuine ingredients.
Let’s see, therefore, how to prepare a soft, fragrant and delicious dove.

For the dough of a 1 kg dove, you need the following ingredients.

• 1/2 kg of Manitoba
  flour
• 120 grams of sugar
• 80 ml of milk
• 3 eggs
• 180 grams of soft butter at room
  temperature
• 15 grams of fresh
  brewer’s yeast
• 10 grams of salt
• 80 grams of candied fruit (citron and orange)

For the almond glaze, you need instead:

• 60 g shelled almonds

• 20 g shelled hazelnuts

• 200 g sugar
• 2 egg whites

For an artisanal Easter dove you need, finally, an aromatic mix made with the grated peel of an untreated orange and lemon peel, a tablespoon of acacia honey, a tablespoon of rum and a sachet of vanilla. Instead, take care of icing sugar just enough and granulated sugar to decorate your dessert.

The recipe for the artisan Easter dove step by step

To prepare the dough of the artisan Easter dove, you can work the ingredients in the mixer. Sift the flour and add the fresh brewer’s yeast dissolved in warm milk, sugar and milk. Operate the machine and work everything for a few minutes with the hook in such a way as to obtain a grainy mixture.

Then add the aromatic mix and knead for a few more minutes to make sure that the aromas are distributed well. Add one egg at a time at room temperature and knead so that it is completely absorbed. Add the second egg and finally the third.
The dough is ready when it does not remain attached to the whisk, but be careful because it must also be soft and homogeneous.

At this point, you can add the butter cut into small pieces and at room temperature. Work the mixture with the machine. You have to have a lot of patience because the dough will be soft. Every now and then turn off the machine, wait a few minutes and resume processing.

If you prefer, you can also move to the kitchen table and knead with your hands. At this stage, however, it is essential that the dough does not heat up because the yeast risks no longer working if it reaches a temperature of 30 °. Result? The dove cannot rise. If during processing it seems to you that the dough is hot, stop and wait a few minutes.

To help cool faster, you can open it by spreading it on the table. If you use the mixer, wash the whisks under cold water.

Finally, add salt and string the dough well. Add the candied fruit and work for a few more moments with the mixer.

The leavening of the Easter dove

After preparing the dough, there is nothing left to do but let it rise. You can transfer it to a baking dish or leave it in the container of the mixer, but it is essential to cover it with plastic wrap.

Put it, then, in the oven off and, if you want, turn on the light in such a way as to slightly heat the compartment thus favoring the growth of the dough. Alternatively, you can put a saucepan of hot water in the oven.

At this point, you just have to wait for your dove to grow by tripling about its volume. The times are not always the same and much also depends on the external environmental conditions such as the temperature you have in the house and the level of humidity.

How to fold the dough of the Easter dove

When leavening is complete, roll out the dough on the lightly floured kitchen table. Spread it at the edges and fold it, then, to wallet starting from the longest sides and repeat the operation on the others. Pirla the dough forming a ball and place it again in the bowl covered with plastic wrap.

Let your dove rest for about an hour and then shape it inside traditional cardboard containers. Let it rise for as long as necessary. Gently add the icing that you have previously prepared with the egg whites, sugar and chopped almonds and hazelnuts. Add some whole almonds and, as usual, the granulated sugar.

Cooking the Easter dove

Bring the oven to 180° in static mode. Place the dove on the tray in the medium-low part and cook for about an hour. After about 30 minutes, open the oven to monitor cooking.

If the surface of the dove seems overcooked to you, you can cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil. Before pulling it out, test the toothpick and check that it is completely dry. Let the dove cool for a few hours.

As you can see, an artisanal Easter dove takes a long time because there are many steps and to these are added the long leavening times. If you don’t have time to prepare it yourself, you can try to take a look at our proposals in the Gourmet Sweets section of DF Gourmet.