Gubana Sweet Italian Easter bread
Serves 12
Preparation 30min
Cooking 1hr
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain four
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons dried yeast
- good pinch of salt
- 1 whole egg, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp natural vanilla extract or essence
- finely grated rind 1 orange
- 7 tbsp butter, cubed
- ½ cup milk
- melted butter, to grease
- 1 extra egg, lightly whisked, to glaze
Filling
- ½ cup marsala wine
- 1 cup seedless raisins, chopped
- 2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and peeled
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted
- ⅓ cup pine nuts, toasted
- 3 1/2 oz savoiardi (sponge finger biscuits), broken into chunks
- ¼ cup chopped glace orange rind or mixed peel
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- finely grated rind of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp honey
Instructions
Resting time 2 hours
- Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla and orange rind. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the milk and heat until just luke warm. Remove from the heat and add to the flour with the whisked egg mixture and use a wooden spoon and then your hands to mix to a soft dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic (see Note). Lightly grease a clean large bowl with the melted butter, add the dough and turn to coat the dough in the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, to make the filling, heat the marsala and raisins in a small saucepan over a medium heat until almost simmering. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Process the hazelnuts, walnuts and pine nuts in a food processor until chopped. Add the savoiardi biscuits and use the pulse button to process until the biscuits are crushed to a similar size as the nuts. Transfer to a bowl and add the glace orange rind, cocoa, cinnamon and lemon rind. Add the cooled raisin and Marsala mixture and the honey and stir to combine and form a coarse paste.
- Preheat the oven to 355F. Grease a 8″ springform tin with melted butter.
- Punch the center of the dough down with your fist and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to a rectangle about 12″x 20″. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 3/4″ boarder. Starting from a long side, roll the dough up to enclose the filling and pinch the ends to seal. Twist into the greased tin to form a coil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until risen by about one third.
- Brush the top with the extra whisked egg and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 320F and bake for a further 40 minutes or until cooked through and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.
- Serve at room temperature cut into wedges.