Your cartYour cart

Rome Private Guides Presents - Tuesday cooking with Nadya

About Florence

31-03-2020

Today's recipe is a Tuscan Easter dessert. While the majority of Italian Easter desserts are egg-rich baked goods, like the Pastiera from Naples, or heavy iced ricotta cakes, like the Sicilian Cassata, Tuscan sweets are a bit more delicate and light. So let's have a look at the typical Tuscan Easter Schiacciata, a fluffy sweet bread, scented with the unmistakable Tuscan aroma of aniseed.

 

 WHAT YOU NEED:

  • 550 gr "0"flour
  • 170 grams of sugar
  • 85 grams of butter
  • 20 ml of olive oil
  • 4 eggs (2 whole, 2 yolks and 2 whites for brushing the top of the dough)
  • 28 grams of fresh yeast (or 9 grams of dry yeast)
  • 15 grams of aniseed
  • A dash of vin santo
  • A dash or more of Sambuca or Strega (these liqueurs have strong fennel or liquorice-like flavours, which add to the aniseed aroma. If you don’t have it, use Marsala as Artusi does)
  • Pinch of salt
  • A teaspoon of honey
  • Juice and rind of ½ an orange
  • Rind of a lemon

 

Now that you have all your indredients ready, we can start cooking

 

1 .  For the starter - 20 minutes

Activate your starter by combining the yeast with about 60 ml of lukewarm water and 50 grams of flour. Let it bubble and rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 20 minutes or so.

In the meantime, soak the aniseed in the orange juice together with the citrus rinds and honey. Preheat the oven to warm it up to help the dough rise in the next step.


2. First rising - 90 minutes 

When the starter looks doubled in size, add to it  250 grams of flour, 85 grams of sugar, 43 grams of butter, 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk (save the white for later), 8 grams of olive oil, pinch of salt and half of the aniseed mixture. Combine well to get an elastic, slightly sticky dough.

Place the dough in a large bowl, covered, inside the warm oven (which should be turned off). Let the dough rise until it is soft and wobbly – it should tremble like a pudding when lightly shaken.

 

3. Second rising - 3 hrs

When the dough is appropriately wobbly, it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients. Combine everything very well and then place the dough in its baking pan – this should be a greased (traditionally with lard, but you can use olive oil) round, deep baking tin (around 20-26 cm in diameter). Let the dough rise, covered and even swaddled in tea towels, overnight 

The dough should rise about 3 times its original volume and be perfectly rounded.

 

4. Baking - 50 mins

Brush the top of the dough with the egg whites leftover from earlier and bake in moderate oven (150-160°C) for about 50 minutes until cooked and dark brown on top. (it won’t rise much further). A small saucepan filled with water and placed in the bottom of the oven will help keep the oven humid and create a nice crust.

This desert should be made on Good Friday in order to serve it for the Sunday Easter lunch. 

Let us know how it turned out! 

 

 


 

related articles

Florence at Sunset: Walks and Breathtaking Views

Falling in love in Florence... and with Florence. The Golden Hour of the city of lilies offers its ...

07-06-2024

RENAISSANCE FLORENCE: DISCOVERING ARTISAN WORKSHOPS

Visiting the city of Florence is definitely a must if you enjoy Renaissance art. This magnificent ...

21-12-2023

Palazzo Vecchio: Florence's historical civic center

Located in the heart of the city of Florence, next to the Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria, ...

05-11-2023

Discover Florence Oltrarno District

Let’s find out something more about this suggestive neighborhood and why it’s worth a visit!

01-10-2023

The secret gardens of florence: hidden gems in the city

The city of Florence is filled with endless beauty, both on its architectural and artistic side, but ...

11-07-2023

Tuscany Wine Tours: The Best Vineyards to visit

if you’re planning on visiting Tuscany and you enjoy wine, attending a wine tour is definitely ...

11-06-2023

Explore the Magnificent Duomo of Florence

Let’s go more in-depth about the history and architecture of the magnificent Dome of Florence!

25-05-2023

Exploring Duomo di Siena and its Baptistery

Located in the historical center of the city of Siena, the Duomo di Siena is one of Italy’s most ...

06-04-2023

A walk through history: The top 7 museums in Florence

Florence is one of the main residences of art, as it houses many masterpieces of Renaissance art and ...

12-01-2023

Discover an ancient tradition in Florence: the wine windows

If you have ever visited Florence and Tuscany in general, then you know how much local culture is ...

20-01-2022