Recipe: Buccellato (Buccellato alla Moda di Taddeucci) and Raisin Anise Bread (Buccellato Di Lucca)

While someone did reply from the family and say they had the recipe (this was back in 2008) - they never came back and posted the recipe unfortunately.

Here are a couple of Buccelatto Bread recipes. Perhaps one of these is similar to the ones you seek and you could tweak it. Please share your results with us here. Good luck!

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BUCCELLATO (BUCCELLATO ALLA MODA DI TADDEUCCI)
Source: Excerpted from The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
From: The Splendid Table from American Public Media, December 14, 2007

Buccellato is to Lucca what Panforte is to Siena and Panettone is to the Veneto region-a local tradition, especially for the holidays.

Fashion the recipe into three smaller loaves for giving. Freezing the Buccellato works well for up to three months.

Makes 1 large loaf, serving 8 to 10

Anise and currants flavor this legendary bread of Lucca. Shaped in the form of a ring, this golden bread isn't quite like Italy's other yeasted sweet breads. Instead of being rich and cake-like, Buccellato is lightly sweetened and spiced-an appealing chewy white bread with a dense, lean crumb. I like Buccellato's simplicity. It tastes like homemade farmhouse bread spiffed up for company with currants and sugar. It's superb with any sweet wine.

In Lucca, no celebration happens without Buccellato and glasses of the sweet Vin Santo. When family comes from far away, Buccellato is served. At a christening for a new baby, Buccellato is served. Youngsters plead with parents, "Aunt Amelia is here (from across town), can't we have Buccellato?" But it's never just any Buccellato. The one true Buccellato comes from Taddeucci, the bakery on Piazza San Michele founded by Iacopo Taddeucci in 1882. The stylish old shop has not changed much since then, nor has its Buccellato.

Serve Buccellato sliced thin with glasses of Vin Santo. Toast leftovers for breakfast, or an after-dinner treat with fruit. The Lucchese make a sort of Buccellato strawberry shortcake in berry season, and I think it makes a great bread pudding.

Cook to Cook: A heavy-duty electric mixer is handy here, as the dough is a dense one. Its beating bruises the currants, slightly darkening the dough but spreading their flavor through the bread. Certainly a wooden spoon will accomplish the same thing, but it takes much more elbow grease. Use an organic bread or high-protein flour if at all possible. Anticipate about 7 1/2 hours to make the bread. If more convenient, the first rise of 4 hours can be stretched to overnight in a cool place.

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water (90 degrees F)
About 5 cups (25 ounces unbleached white bread flour (preferably organic)
1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon anise seeds, bruised with the side of a knife
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) sugar
1 cup (about 1/4 pound) currants, soaked in hot water 15 minutes and drained

FOR THE GLAZE:
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg

1. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer or another large bowl, dissolve the yeast in half the water, with a pinch of the flour. Let proof 10 minutes, or until bubbly. With the paddle attachment at low speed, or by hand, beat in the rest of the water, the milk, anise seeds, salt, sugar, and currants. Slowly beat in 4 cups of the flour until a soft dough has formed.

2. Replace the paddle with the dough hook and knead at medium-low speed 15 minutes, adding an additional cup of flour a tablespoon at a time, for a soft, sticky dough. Remove the dough to a floured work surface. Knead by hand 2 minutes to form a soft, very elastic dough that is barely sticky. Or, if working by hand, stir in flour until the dough is too heavy to handle. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining flour until the dough is soft, extremely elastic, and barely sticky. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 4 hours, or until almost tripled in bulk.

3. Oil a large cookie sheet or pizza pan. Knead down the dough. It will be sticky. Shape the dough into a 24-inch-long log. Bring the ends together, forming a ring, pinch ends to seal, and set it on the pan. Place an oiled upside-down custard cup or ramekin (about 3 inches in diameter) in the center to maintain the shape of the ring as the dough rises. Cover and let rise at room temperature 1-1/2 to 2 hours, until barely doubled.

4. Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a small bowl, beat together the glaze ingredients. Brush generously over the dough. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until the bread is a deep mahogany brown and sounds hollow when its bottom is thumped. Cool on a rack. Buccellato keeps several days at room temperature, if well wrapped.

LYNNE'S TIPS:
* Nationally available all-purpose flours containing a higher protein content include Gold Medal and Pillsbury unbleached all-purpose and King Arthur Northern unbleached all-purpose. Flour labeled "bread flour" has an even higher amount of protein.
* Check the expiration date on the yeast package and buy the freshest available.

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RAISIN ANISE BREAD (BUCCELLATO DI LUCCA)
Source: Ciao Italia in Tuscany by Mary Ann Esposito, published by St. Martin's Press in 2003.
Makes 1 Large Ring

"Buccellato Taddeucci in Lucca sells the sweet bread that was said to be a favorite of the ancient Roman army and in fact are sometimes made as large as a Roman cart wheel! Bucellato is the standard confirmation gift to children from their grandparents. If you go, get there early to buy one so you won't be disappointed."

1 package active dried yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
6 to 6 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached, All-Purpose Flour
1 cup raisins
1 tablespoon anise seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon fine salt

Dissolve the yeast in the water in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, 2 eggs, sugar, and butter. Stir in two cups of the flour, raisins, anise seeds, and salt. Add the remaining flour, a little at a time, until a soft ball of dough is created. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow it to rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and punch it down with your fists. Knead the dough for a few minutes, then roll it out into a 32-inch rope, and bring the ends together to form a ring shape. Place the ring on a lightly buttered cookie sheet. Cover with a clean towel and allow it to rise until almost doubled.

Brush the dough with the remaining egg and bake until golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the buccellato to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Option: To keep the center of the ring open during baking, place a well buttered custard-type dish in the center of the ring. After the bread is baked and cooled, carefully remove the dish.