The Easter Schiaccia

According to the traditional recipe, the Easter "Schiaccia" should be left to rise for 100 hours: preparation began on the Tuesday before Easter mixing enough flour, water and yeast for each guest at the Easter lunch. More flour per person was added the following evening, and so on for the remaining evenings until Good Friday. After the Holy Procession the real dough was prepared and left to rise all night until the following morning, then baked in a log oven.

Ingredients for 6 "schiacce"

2,3 kg of flour, 600 g of sugar, 100 g of melted butter, 130 g beer yeast, 12 eggs, a glass of rose water, half a glass of herb liquor, half a glass of brandy, half a glass of oil, 30 g of aniseed seeds.

Method

On the evening before make the dough with 300 g of flour and 30 g of yeast melted in tepid water.

The following morning make another batch of dough - same ingredients and same quantities - and add two eggs. Mix both doughs together into one and leave to rise for at least 12 hours.

Make sure it is well risen.

Roll the risen dough, all the flour and the remaining eggs, the liquors, the rose water and the melted butter on a floured surface. Soften the aniseed seeds in tepid water and add to the dough.

You have to knead the dough for quite a while, because the longer the kneading the better the end product.

Divide the dough into six and put each into a greased tin, then leave to rise for several hours; brush with beaten egg yolk to give them a golden colour. Bake in oven at 200°.

Photographs Blog Note di Cioccolato