Colomba Pasquale or Colomba di Pasqua is an Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 counterpart of the two well-known Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 desserts, panettone

Panettone

thumb|200px|right|A non-traditionally shaped panettone loaf.Panettone is a type of sweet bread loaf originally from Milan , usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Italy, Malta, Brazil, Germany and Switzerland, and is one of the symbols of the city of Milan. Maltese nationals are...

 and pandoro

Pandoro

Pandoro is a traditional Italian sweet yeast bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Typically a Veronese product, pandoro is traditionally shaped like a frustum with an 8 pointed-star section....

.

The dough for the Colomba is made in a similar manner to panettone, with flour, eggs, sugar, natural yeast and butter; unlike panettone, it usually contains candied peel and no raisins. The dough is then fashioned into a dove

Dove

Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...

 shape (colomba in Italian) and finally is topped with pearl sugar and almonds before being baked.Some manufacturers produce other versions including a popular bread topped with Chocolate.

The Colomba di Pasqua was commercialised by the Milanese baker and businessman Angelo Motta

Angelo Motta

Angelo Motta was an Italian entrepreneur, founder of the food company Motta. He is associated with the commercial production of the sweet yeast bread panettone.Motta later served as a finance minister in the cabinets of Alcide De Gasperi during the 1950s....

as an Easter version of the Christmas speciality panettone that Motta foods were producing.