The Pompe à l’huile is a traditional french Pastry which is part of the “Les treize desserts”, the thirteen desserts served on Christmas. It is a very rich, sweet Bread and flavoured with orange blossom water and Orange peel. It’s crumb reminds on a rich brioche but it is not prepared with butter but with olive oil. Since I made the Schiacciata di Pasqua for Easter I knew that olive oil in a sweet bread is not a strange but a very delicious idea.

The recipes which I found in the net where all made with a lot of yeast. As this is something I don’t like so much, I decided to use some of my sweet starter as preferment, as I was feeding it anyway to make it strong for the Pandoro I plan to bake. The sweet starter is so mild, that even with this long fermentation it just gives a complex flavour to the bread, but with no sour tones. It harmonize very well with the orange flavour and the subtle spiciness of the olive oil.

Pompe à l’huile

Sweet Starter

• 180g Sweet Starter (feed the day before)
• 180g flour Type 550
• 90g Water

Dough

• Sweet Starter
• 300g Flour Type 550
• 30g Egg yolk  (of 2 eggs size M)
• 7g Salt
• 25g Orange blossom water
• 60g Water
• 150g olive oil
• 120g sugar
• Peel of an Orange

Mix all ingredients for the sweet starter to form a homogenous dough. Ferment for 2-3 hours at 30°C.

In a stand mixer mix the third dough with flour, egg, spices, vin santo (with or without anise seeds), salt and eggs and knead for 5 min at slow speed. Knead another 5 min at fast speed The dough is very stiff at this time.

Now add 20g sugar and knead on slow speed for one minute. Add 20g oil and knead in slow speed for one minute.

Add 20g sugar and continue kneading for one minute. Add now oil and sugar like before until all sugar and oil is incorporated. The dough has now reached the stage of full gluten network development.

Ferment for 3-4 hours at a warm spot (25°C-30°C) until the volume doubles.

Divide the dough into three pieces, shape each piece into a ball and flatten this ball to a flat bread (1,5 cm thickness). Place on a baking tray, cut six times through the dough and open the cuts by stretching the flatbread a bit.

Proof for 8 hours (over night) at room temperature.

Bake at 180°C for 30 min with steam.