EASTER LOAF

This dessert is part of the Romagna Easter tradition. It was prepared by the "azdore," or housewives, in the days leading up to Easter. It resembles bread sweetened and enriched with raisins and aniseed. Like all traditional country desserts, it has very simple ingredients, but it does require some time to prepare due to the different leavening processes involved.

I have to be honest, when I was little I didn't like this dessert because of its intense anise flavor. Now I love it! This recipe was passed down to me from my aunt; to write it down, I had to grab a scale and weigh the ingredients, because in this recipe the weights were based on the old-fashioned way... A little water for kneading, a little milk for blending, about a tablespoon, a handful of flour... The weights were the eyes and hands of the women who made and remade these recipes year after year. Luca Montersino and most great pastry chefs would shudder at a recipe like this!

• 500 g of spelt flour
• 50 g of water
• ½ cube of brewer's yeast
• 3 eggs
• 120 g of sugar
• 80 g of milk
• 70 g of seed oil
• 2 tablespoons of anise seeds
• 100 g of raisins
• The juice of half an orange
• Grated zest of an orange

First, prepare the pre-dough. In a bowl, pour 100 g of flour from the recipe and mix it with the water in which you've previously dissolved the yeast and 3 tablespoons of sugar, also taken from the recipe's total amount (photo 1). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for a few hours.

Once the rising time is up, add the other ingredients. Knead the dough well and return it to the bowl to rise again (photos 2-3).

Once your loaf has risen well, brush its surface with an egg yolk beaten in a small bowl with a little milk. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross into your loaf. (Photo 4)

Bake at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, it should have a golden crust on the top.