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Food & Drink

The Perfect Focaccia Recipe for Your Easter Meal

Angelo Coassin | PUBLISHED: April 7, 2023

Angelo Coassin
April 5, 2023

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Easter focaccia, or “fugassa” in Italian, is a sweet bread typical of Easter and it is originally from the Veneto region. The legend says that a baker from Treviso invented this sweet focaccia by adding eggs, butter and sugar to his normal bread dough and started selling it before Easter to his regular customers. This preparation became so popular that many pastry chefs started recreating it, making it more complex and structured.

Nowadays, there are many variations of the original recipe and some people add a splash of Marsala wine to the dough. Others add candied fruits or raisins and even bake it into a dove mold to make it more festive. Today, I want to show you how to make my family’s version of the traditional Easter Focaccia, which has been made in my family’s bakery for the past 100 years!

Ingredients:

-100g bread flour

-16g dry yeast-100g water (room temperature)

 -160g sugar

-1 egg-135g butter (room temperature)

-the zest of 1 lemon-the zest of 1 orange-300g plain flour

-4 egg yolks

-a pinch of salt

-1 egg yolk

-20g milk


Directions

  • In a bowl, sift 100g bread flour, add 16g dry yeast and 100g water.Whisk everything together until you form a sticky dough, cover with cling film and proof for 2 hours. 

  • After 2 hours, add your sticky dough into a big bowl, add 120g sugar, 1 egg, 200g plain flour (sifted) and start mixing everything together for a couple of minutes.
  • Add 65g butter and a pinch of salt and keep kneading until you form a smooth dough, cover with cling film and proof for 2 more hours.
  • After 2 hours, remove cling film, add 4 egg yolks to your dough, 40g sugar, the zest of 1 lemon and orange, 100g plain flour and knead for 8 more minutes
  • Add 75g butter and knead until smooth.
  • Place your dough on a clean surface, divide it in half and use your hands to form 2 dough balls.
  • Place the 2 dough balls on a baking tray (lined) and proof for 2 more hours.
  • In the meantime, whisk 1 egg yolk with 20g milk (this is called egg wash)
  • Now use a knife to make a cross shaped cut (please see video), brush your focaccias with egg wash and bake for 35 mins (165C/330F).

Buona Pasqua!

Angelo Coassin

Angelo Coassin is an Italian professional dancer, actor, passionate home cook, and creator of the page @cookingwithbello. In June 2021, Angelo launched his first cookbook “Bello’s Sexy Pasta”, a collection of his most delicious and authentic pasta recipes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Angelo Coassin

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