Easter at Biscottificio Antonio Mattei

Eggs, soft wheat flour, butter (plenty of it, whipped), sugar, natural orange flavouring, almonds and a leavening agent. The ingredients have always been the same: the very ones used in the Mantovana cake’s original recipe.

Antonio Mattei received the recipe for the Mantovana cake as a gift from two nuns whom he kindly hosted. The two sisters were travelling on pilgrimage to Rome and came from Mantua - hence the name of the cake, though you may already know this story.

What you may not know is that, to celebrate the beginning of the new millennium, we began using the same dough to create our own Easter Colomba.

The only difference lies in the shape and weight: our colomba is slightly taller than the Mantovana cake and also softer, especially if enjoyed within a few days of baking.

For those with a sweet tooth, we also prepare a version with chocolate drops (available by order in our shops only). By request, we can also make it with pine nuts, my absolute favourite.

I recommend pairing it with a sweet Moscato or a sparkling sweet wine, while the chocolate version is perfect with café au lait.

What I especially like to underline is that, for Christians, the dove is a symbol of divine intervention, but also of reconciliation, salvation and peace: just as in the Old Testament the dove carrying an olive branch in its beak marks the end of the Great Flood, later Christ himself comes to represent a new beginning.

Beyond religious belief, I think peace and a new beginning are what many of us deeply need today and that is what I wish for all of us during this Easter season.

Letizia Pandolfini