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Apr 1, 2014

Pizza di Pasqua - Easter Pizza

Pizza di Pasqua - Karen's Kitchen Stories

This Pizza di Pasqua is traditionally served only on Easter morning in areas of central Italy (at least according to the interwebs). It is incredibly ethereal and light. In fact, as I researched this bread, I was continuously reminded that "this bread is very delicate." (With all of those warnings, I was a little nervous after my "collapsed savarin incident" that I'm trying to forget).

Pizza you ask? I know!! Pizza in Italy is not just the flatbread that we know and love.

This bread is almost like a cake, yet leavened by yeast. It looks like a tall domed panettone, but is much more airy and delicate and is faintly flavored with oranges and lemons.

Pizza di Pasqua - Karen's Kitchen Stories

It makes simply amazing French toast. Trust me.

Pizza di Pasqua - Karen's Kitchen Stories


The citrusy flavor in these loaves comes from the zest of 3 oranges and two lemons. Check out the lovely flecks of zest in this delicate slice!

Pizza di Pasqua - Karen's Kitchen Stories

Unless you have a very strong arm and a lot of stamina, you will need a stand mixer to make this dough. Even though the final bread is very cake-like, it requires a long beating time to develop the gluten so that the dough does not collapse. As I was reminded over and over again, "this bread is very delicate." You will notice this when you stir down the dough after the first rise. It just goes pffft.

One issue was that the top of the bread blackened very quickly. Next time, I will lower the oven temperature and tent the tops of the loaves with foil earlier to prevent this.

Do you love citrus? Do you love all things Italian? Do you love a delicate airy lightly sweetened bread? Give this one a try. Don't let the 10 egg yolks discourage you. You can always make meringue or macarons from the egg whites, right?

Pizza di Pasqua - Karen's Kitchen Stories



Let's see what all of our Twelve Loaves bakers baked with oranges this month:


Pizza di Pasqua

Sponge

3 tsp instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)
1/2 C warm water
70 g (1/2 C) bread flour

Mix the sponge in the bowl of a stand mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 60 minutes, until bubbly. 

Final Dough

450 g (3 1/4 C) bread flour
10 large egg yolks
125 g (1/2 C plus 2 T) granulated sugar
1/2 C milk
zest from 3 oranges
zest from 2 lemons
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1/2 C plus 1 T unsalted butter at room temperature

  1. Add the flour to the sponge and beat with the paddle attachment for about a minute. 
  2. Beat the egg yolks into the dough, one at a time.
  3. Add the sugar, and beat until incorporated. 
  4. Add milk and beat until incorporated. 
  5. Add the zests, the vanilla, the salt, and mix.
  6. While beating on medium, add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time. 
  7. Once the butter is incorporated, beat the dough on medium high for 10 minutes, until you have developed a very elastic dough. 
  8. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until very puffy and nearly tripled in size, 1 to 3 hours, so watch closely. 
  9. Stir down the dough and pour it into two 2-quart baking pans such as panettone molds or souffle dishes. High sided metal cake pans will also work. Do not worry about trying to actually shape the dough. 
  10. Cover each pan with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled. If you are using panettone molds, place them on a baking sheet. 
  11. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
  12. When the loaves are ready, place them in the oven. After 10 minutes, reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees F. Watch the loaves closely and tent with foil if they darken too quickly. 
  13. Bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until done. 
  14. Let the loaves cool in the pans. 





Would you like to comment?

  1. Whoa, ten yolks! That is one rich, yet light and fluffy bread, Karen. I can imagine it makes wonderful French toast and possibly even better bread pudding.

    And my answers are yes and yes and yes!

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    1. Thanks Stacy. I still can't believe I was able to separate all of those eggs!

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  2. This is so beautiful, Karen - and with that gorgeous color from the yolks, I find it utterly irresistible. Yum.I echo Stacy's triple-yes ;).

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  3. What a magnificent Easter loaf! I'd love this on my holiday table!

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  4. Okay now, where has this bread been all my life? Wow! It looks so light and airy. Fabulous recipe and thank you so much for sharing it for Twelve Loaves.

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    1. Thanks Renee! I just discovered it myself =)

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  5. I absolutely want that on my Easter table, and then I want a Pavlova that uses all the whites, for dessert! Nice baking with you this month for #TwelveLoaves!

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    1. Oooh great idea on the Pavlova Dorothy! =)

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  6. You always come up with such beautiful breads Karen, I don't know how you manage it. Your bread looks absolutely lovely and the crumb is so light and airy..wonderful job!

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    1. You are so sweet. Big smile on my face right now.

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  7. I love this bread! Zest from 3 oranges and two lemons??!!! Wow, I bet this tasted fabulous!!! it reminds me of the texture you'd get from a brioche? looks so good!!!

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    1. Thanks Alice. It was much airier than brioche, and a bit sweeter. I think it's because it has a much higher hydration level.

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  8. Wow, what extraordinary looking bread - I know I would absolutely adore this, especially turned into French toast!

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  9. What a beautiful loaf, and right in time for Easter. Thanks for all of the tips for making it as I am sure I would have thought I ruined it if deflated like that after the first rise. I am looking forward to trying it, and possibly making some french toast out of it if there are any leftovers.

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    1. It was kind of scary. The original recipe calls for brushing the tops with egg, but I did not dare try that!

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  10. Oh, it looks SO wonderful and I love your suggestion of using it for French toast!

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  11. Will you bake me one for Easter, Karen? LOVE this incredible bread. All the richness from the yolks and butter, just amazing! Thank you for sharing with #TwelveLoaves this month!!

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  12. Yes I love Italian food and yes I love citrus...and yes I wish I lived near you to sample this bread. I can't imagine anything so rich and beautiful coming out of my oven-- this is a masterpiece!

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  13. Italian bread are my favorite, they are so rich and taste yum!

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  14. Wow, this bread sounds delicious, love all the citrus.

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  15. Hi Karen, love this. Would you like to share this with the other participants in Food on Friday over at Carole's Chatter? I have a weekly link up party – each week there is a different ingredient or theme. The current theme is Easter Food!

    You can see upcoming themes in one of the pages at the top of my home page. If you would like to join in the fun please schedule a reminder for each week. The collection starts at 7am Friday New Zealand time – which might be some time Thursday your time – I do find time zones quite confusing. Hope to see you soon. Cheers, Carole

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  16. Lovely, thanks for linking it in. Cheers from Carole's Chatter

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  17. Hi. I am having a tad of difficulty with your measurements. The measurements in grams doesnt tally with those in the "cup" measures provided. According to the Dove's tabled list for e.g 3 1/4 cup flour comes to 390g. Yours say 450g! So I either ditch Doves and use the grams provided by your recipe. Sorry but i am a a stickler to details cos i'd hate to get it wrong. Thank you

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    1. I just checked it against King Arthur flour as well as an online converter, and 450 is correct on those. I'm not familiar with Doves.

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  18. Do you hang it upside down after its done baking like pannetone?

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  19. I keep getting dry bits of flour and I'm not sure if that's how it's supposed to be or not :/

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    1. You shouldn't be... are you weighing your flour?

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    2. I am, I do a lot of baking by bakers percentage so I'm used to weighing almost all ingredients :) when I add the flour to the sponge it turns out really dry, adding the egg yolks afterwards doesn't help. Maybe next time I'll try adding the milk with the sponge at the beginning

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    3. Yes, try that! It's been a long time since I've made this, and I just reviewed the ingredient list and it is accurate. I used King Arthur Flour. It is a fussy recipe. Maybe the weight of the egg yolks is different? Please let me know how it goes!

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