Italian Ricotta Easter Bread
I changed our family's traditional Easter bread by adding ricotta and a few other ingredients. The almond flavoring works wonders! —Tina Repak, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup plain or butter-flavored shortening, room temperature
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (or flavor of choice)
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup 2% milk
- GLAZE:
- 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons 2% milk
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or flavor of choice)
- Sliced toasted almonds or assorted sprinkles
Reviews
I have not made the bread yet but noticed there are two lines that say 3/4 cup plain or butter-flavored shortening, room temperature and also two lines that say sliced toasted almonds or assorted sprinkles. Can I assume that this is a miss-print?
Very good flavor (used almond extract and almonds on top) but the texture was a bit disappointing. The bread had a thin , dry crust like a yeast bread but the inside was moist and quite dense. It was more like a pound cake consistency than a sweet bread. Followed suggestion of others and made 2 smaller loaves and that worked out well.
Excellent recipe! Tried it for the first time for Easter to replace a yeast bread that I just had too much trouble with. This didn't disappoint. The only thing I would do different is to make 2 smaller loaves instead of one big loaf. Also, I didn't over bake but still felt like the minimum 45 minutes might have been 5 minutes too much in my oven. So I'd start checking at 40 minutes. Next time I will braid on the sheet pan or on the parchment paper for ease of lifting. Another thing that I did was instead of making 3 ropes to braid, I left the dough in one piece and cut it into 3rds about 2 inches down from the top and braided from there. This is a keeper!
Wow, wow amazing! This will be an Easter tradition from now on. Easy to make, and perfect for hostess gifts!
For Easter I made several specialty breads, and this one was my favorite. Sweet and moist. Delicious!!!
Flavor is excellent! And ease of preparation is a plus. My only suggestion is to separate the dough in half then divide each half into thirds and make two smaller loaves. I made one loaf as the recipe stated. It was huge and also cracked in half as I was trying to move it after it cooled. I had extra ricotta so I made a half recipe and made a smaller loaf ( each rope was about 12 inches or so in length). That loaf was beautiful! I did not add almonds or sprinkles. Lightly glazed was perfect!