This Sweet Almond Easter Bread is a fluffy bread filled with a fragrant almond mixture and chocolate pieces. Enjoy this for breakfast on Easter day or as a tea time treat!
If you have a quick look around my recipes, you will easily notice that Maltese adore almond desserts, especially during Easter season. This year I got inspired from the traditional Maltese figolla to create this scrumptious sweet bread. This bread is made from a rich citrusy brioche dough which is perfectly sweet and fluffy. This bread is filled with the almond filling used in the figolli, then topped with a thick icing and mini eggs. In this bread you can also put crushed chocolate bits for little pockets of goodness. This is a good way to use any extra chocolate you receive for Easter.
How to make this sweet almond easter bread?
Start by preparing your dough. You can either knead it by hand or in a mixer. Once the dough is ready, let it rest for about an hour or until it doubles in size. While the dough is resting, prepare the almond filling and chop the chocolate you will be adding in the filling. Roll the dough in a large rectangle about 40 x 30cm. On top, spread the almond filling and sprinkle on top the chopped chocolate. Roll the dough tightly into a large log, with a sharp knife cut the log from the middle lengthwise. Twist each piece of dough and form the wreath. Let it rest for another 30 minutes. Bake for about 20/30 minutes. Let cool completely before decorating with the thick icing or else it will melt completely. Finish this sweet almond Easter bread wreath by drizzling the thick icing on top and adding your favourite chocolate and mini eggs on top.
How to decorate this bread?
As I made this bread for Easter, I chose to decorate with a thick icing, colourful candy chocolate and mini eggs. However, you can choose whatever you like to add on top. You can use melted chocolate, crushed chocolates, nuts, sprinkles or even leaving it plain.
FAQs
How to serve this sweet bread?
This bread can be enjoyed for a sweet breakfast, as a dessert with an extra scoop of ice cream or with your afternoon coffee or tea. I serve it at room temperature as I like to decorate it with icing before, however you can also serve it warm. For the latter I recommend that you pour melted chocolate on top instead of the icing.
How to store this bread?
Wrap this bread or store in an airtight container at room temperature. Don’t place in the fridge or it will dry out. It can last up to 3 days without drying.
Sweet Almond Easter Bread
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 400 g bread flour
- 50 g butter room temperature
- 1 medium egg
- 5 g salt
- 11 g active dry yeast
- 25 g caster sugar
- 150 ml full fat milk lukewarm
- 30 ml fresh orange juice
- orange zest of 1 orange
For the Filling:
- 200 g ground almonds
- 200 g icing sugar
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp almond essence
- zest of half a lemon
- 50 g chocolate
Egg wash
- 1 egg yolk + a splash of milk
Decoration
- 120 g icing sugar
- 2 tbsp water or milk
- Smarties
- Easter Mini Eggs
Instructions
Preparation of the dough and almond filling
- If using active dry yeast, in a small bowl mix the sugar and yeast in the lukewarm milk and let the yeast activate for about 15 minutes until foamy. If using fresh yeast, crumble the yeast in the flour before starting mixing the dough.
- To a mixer, with a dough hook, add all the dough ingredients. Mix on a low speed for about 5 minutes, then increase the speed to medium and mix for a further 12 minutes until the dough comes away from the bowl. If you are kneading by hand, knead until you get a soft and smooth dough, after about 15 minutes of kneading.
- Form the dough, move into a bowl and let it rest in a warm place covered for an hour or two until it doubles in size.
- For the almond filling, add all the ingredients together and mix well to get a paste. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
Assembly and baking
- On a floured work surface roll the dough into a rectangle, roughly 40 x 30cm.
- With a spatula spread the almond filling over the dough. Make sure to cover all the dough by spreading the filling thinly. Sprinkle on top the chopped chocolate.
- Roll the dough on itself to form a long roll. Cut the roll lenghtwise from the middle and twist both pieces together and close both ends to create the wreath. Cover and let rest for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F.
- Brush with the egg wash and bake for about 20/30 minutes, until golden.
- After cooling completely, drizzle with the thick royal icing and top with your favourite mini eggs and chocolate.
If you have any questions, feedback or comments on this recipe, please leave a comment below. Please also rate this recipe by double clicking on the stars below. If you did make this recipe, tag @apronandwhisk and hashtag #apronandwhisk, as I’m curious to see what you create!
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