Italian Easter Dove Bread Recipe (Colomba Pasquale)

Name: Artisanal Italian Easter Bread Recipe (Colomba di Pasqua)
Prep time: 25 h
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 25 h 45 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cool water (50g); 1/4 teaspoon honey (or cane sugar) (2g); 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (6g); 7 tablespoons bread flour (farina Manitoba type O) (75g); 2/3 cup bread flour (farina Manitoba type O) (96g); 4 large egg yolks, room temperature; 3 tablespoons cool water (45g); 2 teaspoons cane sugar (9g); 6 tablespoons butter, unsalted at room temperature (85g); 5 tablespoons cane sugar (75g); 2 large egg yolks, room temperature; 2 tablespoons warm milk (30g); 1 tablespoon Acacia honey (or other quality honey) (20g); 2 1/4 cups bread flour (325g); 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (6g); 2 cups bread flour (farina Manitoba type O) (260g); 1 tablespoon low-fat milk powder (9g); 3/4 tablespoon diastatic malt powder (5g); 1 cup butter, cubed into small pieces, room temperature) (226g); 6 to 10 tablespoons cane sugar (75-125g)*for sweeter bread, add the full amount of sugar; 5 large egg yolks, room temperature; 1/2 cup cool water (100g); 3 tablespoons warm milk (35g); 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (12g); 2 teaspoons pure vanilla bean powder (or one Tahitian vanilla bean split and seeded) (4g); 1 teaspoon homemade Tarocco orange sugar (or 1 teaspoon of regular sugar + 1/4 teaspoon orange zest) (4g); 1 3/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt, or fine sea salt (*do not use iodized table salt) (10g); 8 1/2 ounces dried apricots (free of preservatives if possible) (242g); 1/4 cup sugar (55g); 3 ounces water (85g)

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This sweet, homemade artisanal Italian Easter bread recipe needs a little extra time and effort to make, but it's worth it. I developed this sweet Italian yeast bread(aka colomba di Pasqua) recipe based on our favorite version from Olivieri 1882, the internationally recognized Italian panettone and colomba producer here in Northern Italy.

You'll find everything you need in this post, including comparison photos and all my best tips and techniques for making your own Olivieri Colomba copycat at home!

Colomba in mold in front of a box with black and white lettering — My Biting at the Bits Olivieri 1882 Easter Colomba Copycat↑↓

Slices of homemade Easter Colomba bread on a cutting board.

3 paper Colomba molds filled with beautiful super yellow eggy-colored Colomba dough

Why This Recipe Works

I developed and tested my Colomba directly against Olivieri 1882, which is located just a few short miles from where we live. We go there semi-often to have an aperitivo and/or coffee and one of their delicious pastries.

They also set up a pop-up shop each spring and winter in our main piazza downtown, where we buy our Christmas panettone, New Year's Pandoro, and Easter Colomba from.

At our table in having classic Italian aperitivo at Olivieri 1882 in Arzignano, Italy when going to pick up our Easter Colomba di Pasqua (Italian easter dove bread) and a cappuccino.

An chocolate-caramel-nougat dessert, a blueberry crossiant-like sweet pastry, and a hot melty savory croissant with prosciutto cotto and provolone on the table with Olivieri 1882 napkins from Olivieri's pastry shop in Arzignano, Italy.

At the time I posted this, I made this Colomba entirely by hand with a coil whisk and sheer determination because I hadn't yet received my 220v European KitchenAid stand mixer.

It was bordering on insane, but I managed it, which means you can absolutely make this using your stand mixer without any problem. I'm happy to report it's much easier to make using a stand mixer😉!

A view of inside Olivieri 1882's pastry shop in Arzignano, Italy with a multitude of their christmas panettone and pandoro on a table in front of the bread, pastry, and bar counters (our favorite Italian pastry shop to buy Easter Colomba di Pasqua from (aka Easter Dove Bread).

My local Olivieri 1882 pop-up shop downtown in Piazza Dei Signori, Italy.

A closeup of the window looking into the Olivieri 1882 local pop-up shop we have in our main square (piazza) downtown each christmas and spring where we can buy christmas panettone and pandoro, and Easter Colomba dove bread.

It is a labor of love for sure, but if you have a long weekend, I suggest rolling up your sleeves and diving in. When you slice off that first piece and taste all your hard work, you won't be sorry you made this sweet Italian Easter bread.

I've included extensively detailed, color-coded step-by-step instructions and photos of each component to make it easier to replicate at home.

Biting at the bits easter dove bread made completely from scratch the Italian artisanal way. — Biting at the Bits Easter Dove Bread (Olivieri Copycat Colomba)

What is Italian Easter Colomba (Colomba Pasquale)?

Our Apricot and salted caramel easter dover bread (la colomba from Olivieri 1882 out of the box sitting next to their raspberry crostata we also ordered. — The real Olivieri 1882 Easter Colomba and raspberry crostata just out of the box.

Colomba is a sweet, egg-rich Italian yeast bread with a long fermentation time, baked in a paper mold in the shape of a dove to represent Easter. It's basically panettone dough topped with a hard, crackly crust of almonds, egg white, and sugar before baking.

The taste is hard to describe, but it's somewhat like a cross between an even fluffier sweet Challah and cake, with a very distinctive aroma and flavor from the traditional Italian Fiori di Sicilia extract. It's totally delicious.

This "dove" bread is only produced and sold in the period leading up to and through the Easter holiday. You won't find a Colomba in August, which is what makes it special. It's by far one of the best-tasting dessert breads I've ever eaten.

As I've mentioned, one of our favorite versions comes from Olivieri 1882. Our favorite flavor has typically been the Colomba Albicocca e Caramello Salato (apricot and salted caramel), but we've had many different varieties over the years, all of which are delicious.

Italian Colomba Research & Development - Understanding Artisanal Colomba

I researched Olivieri's ingredients plus numerous original versions from famous Italian pastry chefs and built a recipe based on all of this information. It helped a lot to have an actual Colomba to reference for both taste and texture. For any breadmakers out there, this is a challenging bread to make, but it's worth the time and effort.

I'll never forget this first Colomba because I couldn't stop eating it. I had to seal it back up, put it back into its box, and push it away. These artisanal versions of Colomba, Panettone, or Pandoro are becoming increasingly popular in America.

But too often these Italian desserts get a bad reputation because so many of the versions we've traditionally had access to in the States are mass-produced and full of preservatives and unnatural ingredients.

They're often made many months before they're even expected to be consumed, which is ok, as long as it's an artisanal version.

Artisanal Colomba uses a natural mother starter versus traditional active or active dry yeast for the leavening, along with slow fermentation (usually 48 hours), which makes it highly digestible. It relies on the highest quality natural ingredients for its incredible flavor (without the use of preservatives or additives).

This dough develops one of the most beautiful weblike dough structures I've ever seen or worked with. You can still find excellent Colomba and Panettone outside of Italy, and if you're interested, I suggest seeking out a good one.

Colomba Comparison Photos (Olivieri's Artisanal Colomba vs. Biting at the Bits Colomba)

2026 UPDATE: Sadly, Bauli (a Verona-based commercial maker of panettone, pandoro, and colomba bought Olivieri some time back, and they have changed their ingredients to what used to be 100% artisanally made. Unfortunately, they are now using commercial ingredients to make what used to be one of our absolute favorite Colombe, which we felt good about eating because it was all natural. Although I'm sure it still tastes wonderful, it's not the same knowing their superior products have been replaced by syrups and other unnatural ingredients. Another nail in the coffin of artisanally-produced Italian products. Questa è vita...

Olivieri 1882 is a local (internationally-famous) pastry shop that's been in the same family here in Italy for five generations. And lucky for us, it's about 25 minutes from where we live! It's won multiple awards for its Colomba di Pasqua, including "Best Italian Colomba di Pasqua, 2019" by Gambero Rosso (Italy's version of the Michelin Guide or Zagats).

Plus, numerous other awards, including by the NY Times for their "Luxurious feather-light domes" and "They are as good as it gets with Panettone" mentions. Everything this place makes is delicious!

I wanted to try to recreate this famous colomba, and here are the comparison photos: Olivieri Colomba is in the left column, and my Colomba is in the right column. Not too shabby for my first-ever Easter dove bread!

Olivieri 1882 Apricot + Salted Caramel Colomba

If you don't have time to make your own dove bread, I recommend ordering from Olivieri since they ship express to America and worldwide. We've ordered multiple Colombe and Panettone as gifts, and it's been a great experience every time. In fact, my dad is now a loyal customer for the panettone and the colomba each year!

I'm not affiliated with anyone from Olivieri 1882. We just love everything they make. Whether you make your own or not, I recommend buying one from Olivieri to try it, if it's within your budget.

Italian Easter Dove Bread (Colomba) Ingredients

Colomba ingredients on the counter top ready to make Italian Easter Dove bread.

Colomba Dough

Bread flour (farina Manitoba type O)
Instant yeast (or substitute active dry yeast, but bloom it first)
Butter, unsalted, at room temperature
Cane sugar (You can substitute granulated sugar if needed.
Egg yolks
honey (I like to use Acacia honey)
Warm milk
Cool water
Low-fat milk powder
Diastatic malt powder
Pure vanilla extract
Pure vanilla bean powder (or Tahitian vanilla bean)
Homemade Tarocco orange sugar (or regular sugar + orange zest)
Himalayan salt or fine sea salt

Candied Apricots

Dried apricots (free of preservatives if possible)
Sugar
Water

Almond Sugar Crackly Topping

Egg whites
Cornstarch
Cane sugar
Blanched raw almonds
Raw pine nuts
Raw peeled hazelnuts
Salt

For Decorating

Raw blanched whole almonds
Paneangeli "granella di zucchero" (Italian granular sugar) or raw turbinado sugar

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Colomba Pasquale (Italian Easter Dove Bread) Step-By-Step Instructions and Photos

It's important to show step-by-step photos of how to make Colomba di Pasqua because it helps simplify each stage in the process. Hopefully, having this as a resource will help alleviate questions about how or what something should look (or feel like) at any given point in the process.

Buona Fortuna for making your own best-ever Easter Colomba to share with your family and friends, and definitely use your stand mixer if you have one (I know I will next time).

Developing Colomba di Pasqua dough from start to finish (even without using an electric mixer)

STEP 1: Making the biga starter

STEP 2: First kneading

Egg yolks in a bowl separated from the whites.

STEP 3: Second kneading

sugar with honey in the middle of it looking like a fried egg

sugar and honey and 2 bright orange egg yolks and it sort of looks like Cookie Monster

STEP 4. MAKING THE CANDIED APRICOTS WHILE THE DOUGH IS RISING

(These were all-natural, no sulphite apricots I used, but feel free to use the bright orange unsweetened apricots you can easily find.)

STEP 5: Third kneading for final dough and letting it rise

STEP 6: Shaping the Dove Bread into the Colomba Molds and letting them rise

colomba dough rising in 4 qt plastic food container

STEP 7: Making the Almond Sugar Colomba Topping

STEP 8: Assembling the Colomba and Baking

How to Customize Homemade Easter Dove Bread (Italian Colomba)

a bowl of homemade candied apricots and strawberries

dark chocolate and milk chocolate bars chopped on a cutting board

Colomba and Panettone both contain dried fruits or zest of citrus fruits, nuts, and even chocolate and espresso sometimes.

Original classic versions usually include candied citrus peel known as "candita" in Italy (or candied citron), which I'm not too crazy about in large amounts unless it's made the old-fashioned artisanal way, in which case it tastes amazing. The addition of dried fruits helps to keep these breads moist and also imparts flavor.

I used organic dried apricots and homemade blood orange sugar because I wanted to replicate Olivieri's Apricot and salted caramel colomba, which has a slightly fresh orange-caramel flavor. You can get creative with your Colomba fillings by using any of these add-ins or making up your own.

candied citron (lemon, lime, or orange)
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup milk or dark chocolate chips
dried fruit like cherries, raisins, pears. apples, or blueberries

Colomba molds filled with beautiful super yellow eggy-colored Colomba dough

This Italian Easter Colomba Recipe Makes Enough to Share

You can choose to halve this recipe, especially if it's your first time making Colomba. Whatever you decide, you'll just need to order the paper Colomba molds to accommodate your dough.

If you choose to make the whole recipe as is, you may choose to make one of the following combinations outlined below. It's possible that you'll have around 375g of dough in a 300g mold if you choose to make the mini Colomba, but it all works out just fine.

Two 750g (or size C3 paper Colomba molds)
One 750g (27 ounces)Colomba + two 300g mold (10.5 ounces) baby Colomba's (FYI, the 300g mold Colombas are much easier to handle, so If you go with the standard size (750g), have a helper in the kitchen to help you hang it upside down to cool and be sure to reinforce it with double metal skewers before inverting to hang.
Four 300g (10.5 ounces) baby Colomba

A perfectly homemade easter colomba like Olivieri's colomba copycat with golden brown almond covered crackly sugar glazed top perfect for the ultimate easter dessert.

Troubleshooting Homemade Italian Colomba Bread - Mistakes I Made & How You Can Avoid Them

Although I had great success with making and baking this homemade Colomba dough, I had some avoidable mishaps once I removed the Colomba from the oven and hung them upside down to cool. Easter Colomba bread (like Panettone and Pandora) is hung upside down directly after baking so that it doesn't cave in or sink under its own weight as it cools.

Colomba's should be tall, light, and airy when baked properly, and since this is really a yeast bread filled with candied apricots and not an actual cake, the dough is denser and heavier. So, it should be hung upside down (as it is here in Italy) to maintain a nicely domed top. Hopefully, with these tips, you'll be able to avoid making these rookie mistakes.

THE FIRST COLOMBA ISSUE

My first issue was that one of the mini Colombas dropped to the floor while hanging upside down to cool. It was properly secured by two wooden skewers through the bottom half of the bread, but the poles I'd haphazardly taped to two chairs were not. They rolled, and the Colomba fell. Plan ahead and make sure your Colomba "hanging station" is actually secure before you need it.

The colomba Easter dove bread hanging upside down to cool in order to maintain its domed top and not fall in onto itself.

THE SECOND COLOMBA ISSUE

The next issue was with the regular, larger-sized Colomba. It rose perfectly, but when I pulled it from the oven, I was holding it upside down while scrambling to make room on my poorly constructed Colomba "hanging station," which already had the two smaller Colombas hanging from it.

I hadn't left adequate space for the large one, and the top dome crushed under its own weight in my hands. There was no room for it to fit on the poles I'd constructed, but I forced it anyway because I had nowhere else to put it.

That's when one of the skewers snapped, and the Colomba started to fall. I caught it, but not before the top tore open. I had to act fast. I set it down on the countertop, where it slowly sank a little more before I decided to flip it onto two wire spider strainers turned upside down. And when I flipped it? I crushed it with my hands again.

3. A collapsed and torn large Colomba, which is avoidable with better planning

How To Avoid This Issue:

(1) Be sure to plan ahead and build and secure your Colomba "hanging station" on a countertop or table so that if a Colomba falls, it doesn't have too far to drop. Also, make sure there is enough room for all of the Colombas to fit in the given space between the poles.

Place two crates equal distances apart on the table. The crates are just tall enough to hang the Colombas from. Tape one pole in place and leave one end of the 2nd pole untaped so that you can adjust if needed to make a wider opening to help fit the largest Colomba. Once the Colomba is in place, move the pole back to position and tape it down to secure it in place.

Using metal skewers to hold the homemade Easter dove bread (Italian colomba) so it's secure showing the proper way to cool homemade colomba upside down like they do in Italy, but in a amore secure way to avoid the colomba falling.

(2) Use metal skewers that are stronger and won't snap (or add a total of 4 wooden skewers to make a double "X" shape and help better support the weight).

(3) Ask someone to help you so you have an extra set of hands to help position the Colomba as you're turning it over and securing it to the "hanging station".

What to do differently next time:

Next time, I'll portion the dough rounds before they spend the night slowly rising. You'll see in the photo above that the rectangular dough, just gently scooped out of its container, is full of little air bubbles. Next time, I'll divide the dough into exact portions right after the last stage of kneading and before the overnight rise.

Each portion will go into its own smaller, buttered container to rise individually. When it's time to bake, I'll gently shape each portion into an oval, tuck it under itself slightly, and place it directly into the paper mold. I think this will help maintain the dough structure and preserve as much air as possible.

Something I noticed is the sound of this dough. It was so full of tiny air bubbles that it was making noise as soon as I unwrapped it in the morning. It's unlike any dough I've ever worked with. It's amazing. But cutting, portioning, and trying to form the "logs" ended up deflating so many of those air pockets, which was disappointing.

At one point, I wondered if it was even going to rise properly. I think you'll see from the photos of my Colomba vs. Olivieri's Colomba that even though I was a bit too rough on the dough and knocked out a ton of bubbles, it still turned out really well!

Easter Dove Bread FAQ's

What is Colomba Pasquale?

Colomba is a rich, sweet, light, and fluffy Italian bread topped with a mixture of nuts, sugar, and egg white before baking. Shaped like an Easter dove, it's enjoyed throughout Italy at Easter. It originated in Milan and may date back to the sixth century, though it was most likely dreamed up by a clever pastry chef in more recent history to sell bread dough leftover from the Christmas Panettone season. Its most traditional flavor is candied orange zest, though modern versions can include candied citrus or other fillings. It's hung upside down just after baking to keep the domed top high and the crumb light and airy.

Can you make Colomba at home?

Yes, you can make Colomba at home. Traditionally, most Italians buy it each year from their favorite pasticceria (pastry shop) because it's a very labor-intensive yeast bread, but it's absolutely doable in a home kitchen.

Can you make Colomba without a stand mixer?

Yes, but it's a lot of work because the dough is very sticky. The results are worth it, but a stand mixer makes it much easier and is what I suggest.

Is Colomba the same thing as Panettone?

They're almost identical. The traditional difference is that Colomba had only orange zest or candied orange peel, while Panettone included dried fruits or nuts along with the citrus.

Where does Colomba come from?

Colomba comes from Italy, where it was developed for the Easter celebration. Bakers most likely needed a way to use up ingredients left over from making the traditional Christmas Panettone, and since the bread is so delicious, the Easter dove shape was born and became a tradition.

How do I serve Colomba?

Italians enjoy Colomba with coffee in the morning, alongside fresh fruit or whipped cream for dessert, or as an afternoon snack. It's just as enjoyable eaten on its own. The best Italian pastry shops recommend slicing the Colomba and warming it slightly in the oven at a low temperature to release the natural fragrance and flavors of the bread.