Treccia pasqualina di pan brioche

The Treccia pasqualina di pan brioche is a soft and slightly sweet bread often prepared for the Easter holiday. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 500 g of manitoba flour
• 100 g of sugar
• 250 ml of warm milk
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk for brushing
• 80 g of soft butter
• 25 g of fresh yeast
• Grated zest of 1 untreated lemon
• 1 pinch of salt
• Hard-boiled eggs, as many as you like (optional, for decoration)

Preparation

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm milk with a teaspoon of sugar taken from the total and let it activate for about 10 minutes.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the flour, the remaining sugar, and mix. Add the activated yeast and start working the dough with the hook attachment.
3. Add the lightly beaten egg, the grated lemon zest, and continue to knead at medium speed.
4. Incorporate the soft butter in pieces and a pinch of salt, then knead until the dough is homogeneous and elastic. If necessary, add more flour, but sparingly, to avoid making the dough too hard.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth or cling film, and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, about 2 hours.
6. Once risen, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide it into three equal parts to form strands.
7. With each strand, form long strips and braid them together to get a braid. If you wish, you can insert hard-boiled eggs (colored if it’s for Easter) between the folds of the braid, gently pushing them in.
8. Transfer the braid onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover it, and let it rise for another 30 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (356 °F).
10. Brush the surface of the braid with the beaten egg yolk (you can add a bit of milk to dilute it slightly).
11. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden. Regularly check and cover with aluminum foil if the surface is browning too quickly.
12. Once baked, let it cool on a wire rack before serving.

Curiosity

This cake becomes even more special if you insert colored hard-boiled eggs, typically in pastel shades, which symbolically represent rebirth and life reawakening in spring. Sometimes, the eggs are also decorated with floral or geometric patterns. The number of eggs used can vary according to local traditions, and in many homemade versions, each egg inserted into the braid has a meaning related to the family or friends to whom one wishes to wish good luck.