Cuddura cu l’ova: Sicilian traditions
Few days left to Easter, I am sure you are preparing lunch together with your friends and relatives. I’ll be at my grandmother’s house, in a fantastic cottage in the countryside, surrounded by nature in the enchanted valley of the Alcantara. In our table, the “cuddura cu l’ova“, prepared with so much care and love by a dear aunt, has never been missing every year.
This year I tested myself! I called my aunt who gave me the “secret” recipe and together with my niece I made the “cudduri cu l’ova”. The traditions have to be respected!
I decided to share with you my aunt’s secret recipe, so you can bring a piece of Sicily in your tables.
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INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH (approximately 15 cudduras)
- 1 kg of white flour;
- 400 g of sugar;
- 4 eggs;
- 100 g. of butter;
- 10 gr. ammonia for cakes;
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Milk as needed
INGREDIENTS FOR THE GLAZE
- 1 egg white
- 12 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
INGREDIENTS FOR THE DECORATION
- 15 boiled eggs
- chocolate eggs
- sprinkles
- candies
- anything your imagination suggests
PREPARATION
To prepare the cuddura cull’ova put boil first the eggs. Meanwhile, prepare the dough of the cuddura putting the flour in a bowl; dig a well in the center and add the sugar, the butter (at room temperature), the lemon zest, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and eggs.
In a small bowl dilute ammonia for sweets with a tablespoon of milk. Add the milk and the ammonia in the mixture for the dough for cuddura. Begin to knead from the center by absorbing all the flour. Pour the milk (gradually) until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Make some dough balls and roll them out, helping with a rolling pin on a floured surface. At this point, you can cut out the shapes that you like, or you can make “cuddure” three thick stripes of dough, closing them up to form a donut.
Place a hard-boiled egg inside other two thin strips of dough. If you want you can brush the cuddura with an egg white and add some sprinkles (I skipped this step and decorated with chocolate eggs and the sugar paste flowers).
Bake your cuddure cu l’ova at 170 degrees for about 30 minutes. Once the baking time is over, let the cuddura cool in the oven. At this point, you can have fun to decorate session using your creativity.
In Sicily, the cuddura is a typical Easter sweet that you can give away to your loved ones as a good omen. Each form has its own meaning: the dove and the bell represent Jesus’ resurrection, the basket wishes abundance and the heart means love ( and usually exchanged between couples.
Mash&Co team wishes all our reader a Happy Easter!
