Colomba di Pasqua or Colomba pasquale is a typical Italian Easter dove cake. Colomba pasquale, meaning Easter dove, finds its commercialised origins in northern Italy in the 1930s. Dino Villani is so-said known as the inventor of the Easter dove cake. Already working in Marketing for Motta, an Italian brand of confectionery and ice cream products to promote sales of the Panettone cake for Christmas, he had an idea. Long story short, of course, to drive sales for Motta again, by using the same kind of dough and the same machinery, the new spring dessert was invented, la colomba di Pasqua. You might also be interested in reading more about Easter traditions in Italy.
If you happen to find yourself in or near Italy in the weeks and days before the big Easter Feast, splurge and get yourself an original Colomba di Pasqua by Motta. Due to the dove cakes size, the original one is quite big; I went for a kids version by a no-name company. And let’s be honest, mine exactly tastes like a product of a no-name company. Be smarter than me, make room for the big cake, and enjoy yourself some traditional quality product. For comparison, in Switzerland, very close in the north-west of Italy, the traditional Easter Cake is made with rice.
The original recipe for the Italian Easter dove cake calls for the following ingredients: Flour, eggs, sugar, butter, candied peel, pearl sugar, almonds as well as pearl sugar and almonds for the topping. Unlike the Christmas-version of the cake, the Colomba di Pasqua does not contain raisins (the Christmas panettone does, however).
Ti auguro una buona Pasqua! – I wish you a happy easter!
