One of the most representative symbols of the Doge’s figure was the headdress, called “Corno Ducale”. A sort of royal crown of Byzantine origin that once embellished with gems, pearls and gold became “Zogia”, the Venetian joy. Just to indicate its preciousness and royalty, to package it, even the pious nuns of San Zaccaria were enrolled and offered to the Doge on his Easter visit to the church.
Greatly awaited day to see the patrician parade of the Doge and the retinue of nobles, but also to finally celebrate the day dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ and therefore of the spirit but also of the body, after the meager days of Lent. Thus a triumph of flavors broke out in Venice which finally culminated in the preparation of the “fugassa”, the Venetian Easter cake.
Here is the original recipe of the Easter “fugassa”:
INGREDIENTS
500 g of flour – 150 g of butter – 200 g of sugar – 6 eggs – 25 g of yeast – the zest of 1 orange – 1 piece of cinnamon – 2 cloves – 1 sachet of vanilla – 1 glass of marsala wine – water – 1 pinch of salt
For the decoration: 30 g of almonds and 3 spoons of sugar grains
PREPARATION
Macerate the orange zest together with the cinnamon and cloves in the marsala wine for a day. Mix 150 g of flour with the yeast dissolved in half a glass of warm water until a soft dough is obtained. Leave to rise in a warm place covered with a napkin, until it reaches twice its volume.
On a pastry board mix half the flour left with half sugar and half butter, 3 eggs and a pinch of salt. If necessary, add a little warm water to make the dough even softer. Add the previously leavened dough and work very long to obtain a consistent mixture. Put the dough in a bowl, covering it with a napkin and let it rise for another two hours. Once the time for leavening has passed, repeat the same procedure gradually incorporating the remaining ingredients.
At the end, add the filtered spice infusion and mix everything until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. Once this is done, leave everything to rest for another two or three hours in order to make the dough rise further.
Arrange the dough on a round pan with high edges and lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with almonds, granulated sugar and icing sugar.
Put in a hot oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.
