Italian Braided Easter Bread

Every Easter my mother would make this bread, and today I'm passing it along to you.
Traditionally this bread was made on Holy Thursday.

Step 1 Ingredients

Bread
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs, beaten
4-5 raw eggs, dyed if desired

Glaze
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk

Comments

[CocoCinelle]

I think that to save on the eggs (hard cooked eggs on a sweet bun have no additional value taste wise), you could also just empty your egg shells by making a hole at both ends of the eggs: http://www.ehow.com/how_15776_hollow-egg.html

then colour it, and then you can use the eggs for your pastry in an efficient way.

I'll definitely do it this year for easter!!

[jstorm1]

erm, your easter bread is Jewish challah. were your relatives cryptojews?

[junits15]

No way man, I'm Italian and my mom and both my grandmothers make this every easter.

[the_greatgazoo]

Don't be so offended.
Jewish is a religion, not a nationality
There are several Jewish Italians

All can enjoy a good bread.

[junits15]

lol I'm not offended

[jstorm1]

Well, it's still totally challah whether you make it on Christmas or Easter. lol.

[junits15]

its got a different texture, and its more flaky like a pastry

[csadelman]

The colored eggs, are they raw eggs in shell and nestled between bread dough before you bake it in the oven? or are they already hard boiled before baking? Thanks.

[target022]

Yes, they are raw in the dough before you bake it.

[csadelman]

i see. So it will not explode when baking? I had a very bad experience when I microwaved a raw egg, it just exploded in there and made a HUGE mess.

[target022]

Nope, it will not explode. A microwave will definitely explode an egg.

[copilarim]

i'm curious:D the colours are very nice and vivid, are they just paint for the eggs, or food colours?:)

[target022]

They are just the standard Easter eye dyes, Paas brand. I let them sit in the dye longer to get good and dark.

[copilarim]

Thanks! I was asking because the colours reminded me of some candies we used to receive when we were little. :D

[junits15]

I'm surprised how many have not heard of this! For anybody that doesn't know, it doesn't have to be braided its more commonly found shaped like a giant jelly roll thats been looped into a small tire-shape. They don't always have eggs but it makes em look cooler IMO. Nice job on this BTW, outside of my family I've never seen anybody else make one with the eggs. :)

[vavud]

I've heard of it. My grandmother used to make it every Easter. I wish she was still around!

[baba87]

The show "Cake Boss' is Italian and I've seen them make something similar. just a round shape tho (maybe in order to make a bunch at a time)

[icsnerdics]

i'm italian and i've never seen anything like that.
i'm quite sure it's not a typical italian dish, it looks like a tsoureki, a typical greek dish.

[target022]

Have you heard of Panettone? It's a similar type of sweet bread. And you're right, it's similar to the Greek Tsoureki.

Italian Easter Bread