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Italy, Amazing Food, Love and Wine Y'all!

Easter Bread (Cuddura cull’ova)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup of Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 cup of Milk
1 Envelope of Yeast
½ cup of Warm Water
3 Eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup of Sugar
3 ½ to 4 cups of All Purpose Flour (tipo 1)
1 tsp of Salt
5-6 Eggs (colored)
Multi-Colored Sprinkles
1 Egg, beaten with a little bit of water to make an egg wash Process

Directions:
In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter together just until the butter melts, set aside to cool.

Add 1 Tbsp of the sugar to the warm water and stir to mix, then sprinkle the yeast over top of the warm sugar and water and set aside for about 5 minutes.

In the bowl of a standing mixer with a hand held whisk, mix together the eggs and sugar until combined, add the butter and milk mixture, the yeast and water mixture, mix everything together so you have all the wet ingredients well combined.

Switch the attachment to a dough hook and add in 1/2 of the flour and the salt, mix until a soft dough forms. Gradually add a little more flour to make a nice smooth but slightly sticky dough.

Dump onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for a few minutes or until it’s very smooth. Then Shape dough into a ball.

Lightly grease a large bowl with some olive oil, place the ball of dough in the oiled bowl and brush a tiny bit of oil over the top as well. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot and let it rise for about 1-1/2 hours or until it has doubled in volume.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Once the dough has risen properly, dump onto a lightly floured surface, punch it down and cut into 3 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a rope about 1.5 feet long. Lay 3 ropes at a time side by side in front of you loosely braid them together.

Lift the braid onto the prepared baking sheet and pinch the ends to seal so now you have a circle.

Place 3 eggs in each circle lengthwise, tucking them between the ropes.

Cover with a towel and place somewhere warm for 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Brush the top with the egg wash and sprinkle on some sprinkles, bake tiene at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden, making sure to rotate the baking sheets half way though for even baking.

Cool completely and then slice and serve.

Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi. 

With all this crap going on in the world, I barely know what day it is… and today is the day before Pasqua (easter)..   So after we had our family lunch today we were talking about what to eat tomorrow, and it dawned of me that it was easter..
And while I was sitting on my balcony I started thinking about easter, and the one thing that comes to my mind is Cuddura cull’ova (easter bread).
and My uncle made the best damn sweet bread ever…
So, I started to make it today, and I made it a little different than we usually do. I used the kitchen aid for part of it today, instead of doing it all by hand..
As I type this it is in my oven baking..
I sure do miss my uncle and I hope I make him proud with this bread…
Happy easter everyone..