First you’ll make a
biga
, which is a starter made the night before or 8 hrs ahead of baking. Then you’ll mix it all together in the kitchen aid, or by hand if you like. One of the most important things when working with a rich, sweet dough, is to have a yeast that is up to the task! The addition of fat and sugar makes it more difficult to get a good rise. There’s a yeast that was developed specifically to work with rich doughs, SAF Gold, which you can order on Amazon. You can use regular yeast but it will take longer to proof.
There are special forms you can order specifically to make the Italian “Colomba” dove, but if you don’t have one, just form the dove on a parchment covered baking sheet.
Biga
½ flour, ½ teas instant yeast, ½ cup water.
Mix those three together, cover with plastic wrap and leave it sitting on the counter at room temp for 6-12 hours.
Dough
2 ¾ cup flour
1 teas salt
1 ½ teas instant yeast, preferably SAF Gold
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk; save the egg white to brush the top
6 tbsp butter, soft
2 teas vanilla
Biga you made previously
1/3 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
Put all of that in the Kitchenaid mixer with the whisk attachment and mix it on medium speed until it starts to come together. Take the whisk off and use the dough hook to continue to knead the dough for 10 minutes, stopping a couple of times to scrape the sides and bottom. When the dough is starting to come off the sides of the bowl, add:
1 cup golden raisins
½ cup marzipan cut into ¼” dice
Continue to work the dough with the dough hook until this in incorporated. Remove the dough from the Kitchenaid bowl onto a very lightly floured surface and gently knead it to make sure it’s all together. Place in a buttered bowl and allow to rise until doubled: 2 hours if using Gold yeast, 3 hours if using regular yeast.
Once the dough has risen, punch the dough down and cut it in half. Gently roll each piece into a log 12” long. The first log you will shape into the wings by laying it on the baking sheet and curving each end down towards you. It should look like two J’s joined end to end, bending away from where the head will be. Flatten the middle so you can lay the other log on top of it.
