Pane di pasqua is an Italian Easter bread.

Sweet, soft enriched dough decorated with colourful sugar pieces. Flavoured with orange and star anise, they will make your house smell festive all day. The buns are great, but what really makes these special is the obvious whole egg nestled in the middle. It is a raw egg that gets fully cooked in the oven along with the buns. I have seen versions which are made using died eggs, but for me the plain one is good enough. This recipe makes 4 rather large buns. To make more multiply the amount of ingredients.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

250g (8.8oz) strong white bread flour

3g (0.1oz) dry yeast or 3x the amount of fresh yeast

5g (0.17oz) salt

20g (0.7oz) sugar

20g (0.7oz) soft butter

1 orange worth of zest

2g (0.07oz) ground star anise

1 whole egg, approximately 50g (1.75oz), cold from the fridge

100g (3.5oz) milk, cold from the fridge, around 6C (42F)

Your egg and milk should come to a combined weight of 150g (5.3oz). First weigh the egg and then add enough milk to make up the difference.

To learn more about dough temperature control click here.

1 egg for brushing

100’s & 1000’s for sprinkling

4 raw eggs in the shell at room temperature to nestle in the buns. Wash them before use!

Method

1. In a bowl combine the egg, milk, yeast, salt, sugar, butter, orange zest & star anise. Mix well.
2. Add the flour and mix to a dough.
3. Knead for 5 minutes. Desired dough temperature 25 – 26C (77-79F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust proofing time accordingly.
4. Cover and ferment for 45 minutes.
5. Fold.
6. Ferment for 45 more minutes.
7. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Preshape into cylinders.
8. Rest for 15 minutes.
9. Roll out two dough pieces at a time. Twist them around each other to form the bun.
10. Place on a parchment paper lined tray. At this point preheat your oven to 160C (320F) fan on.
11. Cover the buns and ferment for 45 minutes.
12. Brush with the egg, sprinkle with the 100’s & 1000’s all over. Neste an egg in each bun.
13. Bake for 25 minutes.
14. Brush with oil once they come out the oven.