Italian Braided Easter Bread

Children love to bake. There is nothing more fun than making a braided Easter bread with the little ones in your care. This is a traditional Italian Easter bread recipe from the mangiabedda.com web site. Allow the children in your care help with every part of baking this sweet bread.

You Will Need:

For the brioche dough
¾ cup milk plus 1 tablespoon for the egg wash
1 package active dry yeast
4 large eggs 1 egg reserved for the egg wash
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
3 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 orange zest of
1/3 cup butter cut into cubes and at room temperature
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For decorating
3-6 large eggs white or dyed

For the brioche dough

1. Place a packet of active dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar (taken from the total amount of sugar) in a bowl. Warm milk until lukewarm and pour over the yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.

2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix eggs and sugar until smooth.

3. Add honey, vanilla extract and freshly grated zest of 1 orange. Mix well and pour in the yeast mixture.

4. Add cubed softened butter. Mix all ingredients. Note that the butter will not dissolve into the mixture at this point. This is normal.

5. Remove the paddle attachment and replace with a dough hook. With the mixer running on low speed, begin adding flour ½ cup at a time as well as the salt.

6. When all the flour has been added, increase to the next speed and knead the dough for 10 minutes. It will be slightly sticky and will wrap itself around the hook.

7. Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl, or you may leave it in the food processor bowl to rise. Cover and let rise in warm place for 3 hours until doubled in bulk. 

To shape the Easter bread

1. After the initial 3 hour rise, use a kitchen scale to divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into an approximate 24-inch long rope.

2. Place the palms of your hands in the center of the rope and roll gently pushing outwards to stretch out the dough.

3. Do not add any additional flour to your surface when rolling the dough. If the dough slides underneath your hands, wet them with just a few drops of water.

4. Pinch the ends of the 3 ropes together. Braid the ropes and pinch the other end together. Connect both ends to form a circle, or leave oblong as I did.

5. Nestle the dyed eggs in the bread. Let rise for 2 hours in a warm place.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the bread with an egg beaten with a spoonful of milk. 

7. Bake for 15 minutes, then cover loosely with foil and continue baking until browned both on top and underneath the bread.

8. You will notice that the bread will brown quite a bit after the first 15 minutes of baking, but the interior will still be raw. Covering it will ensure that the interior bakes sufficiently without burning the exterior.

9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before serving.

References:

Recipe from mangiabedda.com
Photo by Stephanie Felzenberg