A culinary symbol of Easter in Italy, the colomba is a traditional dove-shaped cake featuring a rich, soft dough with a slightly chewy texture.
Sweet, but not too sweet. What makes a colomba great? The most delicious versions feature a perfect balance between its buttery richness and its slightly sharp taste from the candied fruit.
And behind this special dove-shaped cake, many legends, “secrets” and stories have taken shape over the years. According to one such legend, after having conquered the northern Italian city of Pavia in 572 AD, the Lombard king Alboin asked the city’s nobles to bring him gifts including gold, precious stones and twelve 16-year-old girls – on the day of Easter. Among the gifts Alboin received was a dove-shaped cake to recall the ornamentation of the Duomo. It was soft and light with an enticingly delicate aroma.
Alboin expressed his delight and asked the girls for the name of the cake – to which they responded, “Colomba.” (In Italian, ‘colomba’ means ‘dove.’) Recognizing the sweet cake as a symbol of peace, the king set all of the girls free. From that day on, the dove also became a symbol of peace in Italy.
Despite the difficult times caused by the coronavirus emergency, some Italian specialty shops are still working hard to deliver this symbol of peace all over the United States. Find your favorite today!
Galup's Colomba
Sant Ambroeus, the famous Italian restaurant and coffee bar chain in New York and Palm Beach, selects and imports its special Colomba from Milan. Made over the course of three days using natural yeast, this is a carefully preserved recipe used by the same family for three generations. The rich dough is made with whole-wheat flour, pure butter, and fresh pasteurized eggs, before being enriched with selected vine fruits and candied orange peel. Their Colomba is covered with a hazelnut glaze, sugar and whole almonds.
Sant Ambroeus colomba
Gustiamo, the Italian food import company based in the Bronx, NY, selects only Colomba Biasetto for its customers – handmade by award-winning pastry chef Luigi Biasetto in Padova. “This Colomba is made with a carefully selected recipe that Mr. Biasetto sources himself. Colomba Biasetto has a fluffy, porous and ever-so-slightly dry texture from excellent flour combined with natural yeast, which has been nurtured for 90 years over several generations. A rich layer of frosting decorated with luscious, toasted almonds on top. Blended fresh, organic eggs and butter – from the best milk for a glowing yellow hue,” explains Beatrice Ughi, founder of Gustiamo.
Vincente Colomba
From the classic flavors and brands to the artisanal ones, Eataly US offers a broad variety such as Galup, Boninfanti, Muzzi and Vincente. The last one is a small, pastry shop in Bronte, the Sicilian town famous for its pistachio, that specializes in artisanal pastries including panettone and colomba with peach, chocolate and pistachio, or pistachio with white chocolate. Then there’s the apricot, pineapple and Bronte pistachio flavor…
Vincente Pistacchio Colomba
Agata & Valentina is a gourmet store that delivers traditional and chocolate Fiasconaro Colomba cakes, while Brooklyn importer Coluccio has several brands including Filippi colomba cakes – as well as milk and dark chocolate Easter eggs!
Muzzi's Colomba