Hi everyone! How are we all doing? So, Easter is right around the corner and this is a recipe that I have always wanted to try. Italian Easter Bread. Essentially, Italian Easter bread is a sweet and fluffy, brioche style bread. This bread traditionally has regular chicken eggs in it that are just for decoration and not actually eaten. I wanted to make bread with eggs that are actually edible so I decided to use chocolate eggs. I thought that they would pair well with the sweet Italian Easter Bread.
This bread has honey and orange zest in it so it is a sweet version. This bread is fluffy and cloudy with a subtle orange flavor from the zest and some added sweetness from the honey. The eggs do not have to be in the bread at all or they could be traditional eggs. This was just my interpretation. I typically don’t like traditional recipe’s. I don’t think that food should be made all one way.
I hope you all try this recipe. I know you will love it. If you did, leave me a comment and let me know. Share this recipe with your friends and your family so they will have a wonderful Easter recipe as well. Come back next week for another delicious Easter recipe and I will see you next time.
Italian Easter Bread
My take on a traditional italian brioche bread. A fluffy loaf of sweet white bread with orenge zest flecks throughout and littme chocolate Easter eggs.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Stick of Unsalted Butter
- 1/3 Cup of Milk
- 1 and a 1/4 Tsp of Instant Dry Yeast
- 2 Eggs
- 2 TBSP of Honey
- 3 TBSP of Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tsp of Vanilla Extract
- Zest of 1/2 of a Large Orange
- Chocolate Eggs (Frozen)
- 1 egg beaten with a little bit of water for an egg wash
- 1/4 of a cup of warm water (Between 100-110•F)
- 3 Cups of All Purpose Flour (Sifted)
- 1/4 Tsp of Salt
Instructions
- Activate the yeast by adding it to the warm water in a small bowl. Then drizzle in the honey on top of the yeast so that it pushes the yeast down in the water, helping the activation process. Let that sit for 5 minutes to activate. You will know it's ready when it is bubbly and foamy and smells like bread.
- In another small bowl combine the milk and the butter and microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring between until the butter is melted.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar until combined.
- Whisk in the rest of the wet ingrediants, the cooled butter and milk mixture, the activated yeast and honey, the vanilla extract, and the orange zest until well combined.
- Add in 2 1/2 cups of the sifted flour, and place the bowl on your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
- Knead on medium low speed until the dough comes together.
- When the dough comes together, add in the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and salt. Keep the mixer on medium low speed until the flour is incorperated and than increase the speed to high and knead until smooth. About 1 minutes. The dough should be very sticky and soft.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead the dough into a ball and then place it in a lightly oiled bowl.
- Place in a warm dry place to rise until doubled in size. This should take 1 hour to an hour and a half..
- Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured suface again.
- Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into about a 22 inch snake.
- Pinch 1 end of each of the snakes together so that they are connected.
- Braid the 2 pieces together, overlapping one piece over the other until you reach the end.
- Form the braided dough into a circle and pinch the ends together.
- Place the braid on a cookie sheet layed with parchment paper.
- Press the frozen chocolate eggs into the dough, under the folds of the braid. As many or as little as you like.
- Let it rise in a warm dry spot again for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Brush the whole top of the bread with egg wash and bake at 350• for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Try not to brush the eggs with the egg wash or they will get a brown residue on the top.
- Let the bread cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below, message me on instagram, facebook or leave me an email.