Italian Easter Dove Bread (Colomba Pasquale) - with Biga
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 15 hourshours20 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 25 minutesminutes
Proof the dough twice:: 2 hourshours
Total Time: 17 hourshours45 minutesminutes
Servings: 14servings
Calories: 198kcal
Author: Marvellina
Colomba is absolutely a delicious Italian rich and sweet Easter bread that has a texture like a cake. The recipe is made with a biga preferment and the bread has nice fluffy crumbs that you will truly enjoy!
Place all ingredients for biga in a mixing bowl. Stir with a spoon. Cover and put at room temperature and let it ferment for 10-15 hours. It will double or triple in size. The longer it takes to ferment, the better the flavor and that's why we want it to ferment at room temperature or even do a cold ferment (in the fridge). It can stay in the fridge for about 4-5 days before you use it and can be kept in the freezer for 3 months
If you do a cold ferment, take it out from the fridge to let it comes to room temperature while you prepare other things
Prepare the dough:
Put all ingredients and biga, except for butter, in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Start mixing on low speed (speed 2 on KA) until you get a rough dough, and then increase speed to 4 and knead for about 5 minutes. This is a very sticky dough. You may need to stop the mixer and scrape the side of the bowl every 2-3 minutes.
Then add the softened butter, pat by pat, and continue to knead on speed 4 until the dough absorbs all the butter, about 8-10 minutes of kneading with a stand mixer. The dough will be soft and shiny, clear the side of the bowl, but not entirely clean. The dough is still sticky to the bottom of the bowl. Add the orange zest and chopped dried fruit and just knead on the lowest speed only to combine everything. It may not fully combined, but don't worry, it will distribute more evenly when we shape the dough. Careful not to over kneading the dough or the gluten may break and turn into a sticky mess.
First proofing:
Oil the side of the bowl and use a dough scraper to scrape the dough and transfer to a large oiled-bucket to monitor fermentation
Let the dough ferment at a warm place until it doubles in size. It took me about 45 minutes using SAF Gold instant yeast. I made it before with active dry yeast and it took about 2-3 hours for the dough to rise near double.
Shaping:
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Without deflating the dough yet, divide the dough into two pieces. Then gently flatten the dough slightly and shape it into about 10-inch log and the other about 7-inch log.
Line the long log crosswise on the parchment paper. Use the side of your hand to create a crease in the center of the dough. Lay the short log crosswise on the crease you just created. Shape this short log into a wing by gently shaping the two ends into a crescent-like shape
Use a scissor to cut the tip of the wings and the tail to make them look like "feathers"
Final proofing:
Cover with plastic wrap that has been lightly oiled to prevent sticking. Let the dough rise again at a warm place until about 50% puffy, this may take 45 minutes to 1 hour with SAF Gold instant yeast. It took about 40 minutes for me. If you use regular yeast this may take 2 hours or so. You don't want the dough to puff up too much that it loses the shape, but it should be about 50% puffy and when you gently push on the dough, it bounces back very slowly and leave an indentation
Prepare the topping:
Combine the egg white, sugar, and almond flour to make a sticky paste and set aside
Baking:
10 minutes before the end of the final proofing, preheat the oven to 375 F (190C) for conventional oven, 350 F (180 C) for convection oven
Brush the dough with the egg white paste all over the surface. Arrange almond slices on top and add the coarse sugar. Use a whole almond for the eye (which I forgot LOL)
Bake for 15 minutes on the middle rack and then cover with an aluminum foil and lower temperature to 350 F and bake for another 10 minutes or until the temperature is 190 F at the center of the dough
Cooling:
Slide the Colomba onto a cooling rack to let it cool completely before serving
Serving:
Slice into thin slices and enjoy it as is with a cup of tea or coffee. You can also toast it to accompany your Easter lunch or dinner