Toscana Gusto’s a cozy café, a molto-gusto delicatessen, a Tuscan-Hungarian cultural meeting point, but above all, a feels-like-home pretty little place in leafy Buda.
The shop is totally and utterly 100% Tuscan, from the terracotta flooring through the oh-so-mouthwatering marinated vegetables and award-winning prosciuttos to the warmest welcome you receive upon entering this friendly, mini version of Tuscany. Joining forces with FUNZINE, they’ll be sharing true Tuscan recipes with us.
Colomba Pasquale – Traditional Sweet Italian Bread for Easter
The sweet dough
Ingredients:
½ cup milk, 4 large eggs, at room temperature, 8 tsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, ½ cup sugar,
1 tsp salt,2 tsp vanilla extract, 4 ½ cups flour, 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast, Orange juice from one orange, Lemon juice from one lemon or candied orange peel
It must be soft on the outside and moist on the inside, so two kinds of dough is prepared. Add milk, eggs, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla, flour and yeast to a bowl, in this order. Leave the dough to rise for a night. The next day, make the second dough adding some tiny pieces of candied fruits. Leave for 30 minutes, then divide it into the appropriate sizes and after four hours of further rising, cover with almond glaze. After it’s baked, leave it to rest at least for seven hours.
The almond glaze
Ingredients:
2 egg whites, ½ cup whole unblanched almonds, ¾ cup sugar, 1 tsp almond extract, 2 cups sliced almonds, Powdered sugar
Place the egg whites, the almonds, sugar and the almond extract in a food processor. Mix until all the ingredients are blended well. Brush the mixture on the Colomba, sprinkle with the sliced almonds and with icing sugar.
The Italian Easter Sweet Bread is usually served plain with sweet wine (Vinsanto).
Buon Appetito!