Italian Easter Cake Recipe – Easter Day 2024
Ingredients
FIRST DOUGH
- 250g strong bread flour
- 55g sugar
- 65g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
- 50g starter (mix 5g of dried yeast with 65g of water and 30g of plain flour)
- 42g egg yolks (about 2)
SECOND DOUGH
- 100g strong bread flour
- 50g sugar
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- ½ lemon, zested
- ½ orange, zested
- 42g egg yolks (about 2)
- 100g unsalted butter, softened
- 200g candied orange cubes
ICING
- 1Â egg white
- ½ tsp cornflour
- 25g sugar
- 15g pearl sugar
- 30g blanched almonds
Method
STEP 1
Make the first batch of dough in the afternoon before you need it. In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix the strong bread flour, sugar, butter, starter, and 88ml of water together. After 15 minutes of mixing, the dough should be smooth and pull away from the bowl’s sides. Add the egg yolks and keep mixing until the dough is smooth. Cover and let it rise for 10 to 11 hours, or until it has tripled in size. Don’t rush through this very important step.
STEP 2
Once the dough has risen, add the extra 100g of flour for the second dough to the first batch. Then, put the dough back into the stand mixer and knead it for 10 minutes to get the gluten to work again. Once the dough is stretchy, add the honey, sugar, vanilla, and citrus zests from the first dough. Do a good mix.
STEP 3
I added one egg yolk and one teaspoon of salt. I mixed it well until everything was well mixed. Four times, add the butter and mix well after each addition. Keep mixing until the dough comes away clean from the bowl’s sides. Mix it again after adding the last egg yolk. Mix in 20ml of water until the dough is smooth, shiny, and doesn’t stick to the bowl’s sides. When you add the dried orange cubes to the dough, make sure they are well mixed in.
STEP 4
You can use a 22cm springform cake tin that has been lined with baking paper or an Italian dove cake tin that has been butter. Be careful when you take the dough out of the bowl and shape it into the mold. Let it rise for another two to three hours, or until it gets big enough to touch the edge of the mold.
STEP 5
Set the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Make the cake icing while you wait for the oven to heat up. Mix the egg white and cornflour together until they are foamy, then brush the mixture on top of the bread. Add the nuts, caster sugar, and pearl sugar on top. Place in the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean.
