Panettone- Italy #125

Panettone- Italy #125

Panettone is an Italian sweet bread, originally from Milan. It's usually served during the Christmas Holidays.  It has a cylindrical base and is 5-6 inches in height. The main ingredients are flour, dried fruits e.g. raisins, apricots, cranberries and candied fruits.
FYI: This Panettone recipe takes 13 hours and 20 minutes. Plan accordingly.

Starter:

Dough:

  • all of the starter
  • 2-1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 c. lukewarm water
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 T. butter, softened
  • 1/2 tsp. Fori di Sicilia flavoring OR 1 tsp. vanilla extract plus 1/8 tsp.orange oil
  • 1 T. instant yeast
  • 1-1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/3 c. sugar
  • 1/2 c. golden raisins
  • 1/2 c. slivered dried apricots
  • 1/2 c. dried cranberries
  • 1/2 c. chopped dried pineapple
  1. Starter: Combine the starter ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl, cover, and allow them to rest overnight (8-12 hours).
  2. Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients except the fruit and zest, and mix and knead together- by hand, mixer or bread machine- until you've made a soft, smooth dough.
  3. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1-1-1/2 hours, or until it's puffy ( though not necessarily doubled in bulk.)
  4. Gently deflate the dough, and knead in the fruits and zest.
  5. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a panettone pan or other straight-sided, tall1-1/2 to 2 qt. pan.  Cover the pan and let the dough rise until it's just crested over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.
  6. Bake 400F. for 10 minutes; reduce the oven heat to 375F and bake an additional 10 minutes; then reduce the heat to 350F and bake for 25-35 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil if the crust appears to be browning too quickly.  Panettone should be a deep brown when done, should sound hollow when tapped, and will read 190F at the center using a digital thermometer.  (It's easy to under-bake, since it browns so quickly.)
  7. Remove the panettone from the oven and cool completely.  Do not cool upside down, the top will flatten. When removing from pan do not rest on top or it will flatten. Someone suggested balancing the pan upside down between to objects. Just make sure the top doesn't rest on anything. Store at room temperature, well-wrapped, for up to a week; freeze for longer storage.

Results:  This takes a lot of time but is well worth it.  I used regular yeast instead of instant yeast. If you do that you will need to dissolve the yeast in the water first. I also used a funnel pan. I was concerned about the baking time but it worked out the same. Other than those 2 adaptations, it was delicious, albeit a bit dry. That can be fixed with an espresso!

Bottom Line:  Keeper!

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