Pan dulce

Ingredients

Biga (day before)

• 150 gstrong white bread flour
• 90 mlwater at 20°C (70°F)
• 2 gfresh yeast

Dough

• the biga
• 450 gstrong white bread flour
• 120 gcaster sugar
• 3eggs plus 2 yolks
• 10 gfresh yeast
• 8 gfine salt
• 180 gsoft unsalted butter, cubed
• zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
• 1 tbsphoney
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• 1 tbsporange blossom water

Fruit and nuts

• 150 gmixed candied fruit, diced
• 100 graisins soaked in 50 ml sweet wine or rum
• 100 gwalnuts, roughly chopped
• 80 gwhole almonds
• 50 gdried figs, diced

To finish

• 1egg, beaten with a splash of milk
• 30 gwhole almonds
• 2 tbsppearl or crushed lump sugar
• 2paper panettone moulds, 15 cm

Directions

1. The night before, mix the biga ingredients to a stiff, shaggy dough, cover and leave at cool room temperature for 12 to 16 hours until domed and smelling of yoghurt and alcohol.
2. Next day, mix the biga with the flour, sugar, eggs, yolks, yeast, honey, vanilla and zests in a stand mixer on low for 5 minutes, then medium for 10, until the dough climbs the hook and pulls clean from the bowl.
3. Add the salt, then the soft butter a cube at a time over about 10 minutes, waiting for each to disappear. Finish with the orange blossom water. The dough must reach the windowpane stage: stretched thin, it should let light through without tearing.
4. Drain the raisins and fold in all the fruit and nuts by hand, just until distributed. Cover and prove at 26°C (80°F) for 3 to 4 hours, until doubled.
5. Knock back gently, divide in two, shape each piece into a tight ball by dragging it on the bench, and drop into the paper moulds seam down.
6. Prove again at 26°C (80°F) for 2 to 3 hours, until the dough rises to about 2 cm below the rim of the mould and wobbles when the tin is nudged.
7. Brush with beaten egg, press the almonds and lump sugar over the domes, and slash a shallow cross in the top with a wet blade.
8. Bake at 170°C (350°F) for 40 to 50 minutes, until the crust is deep chestnut and a skewer in the centre reads 92°C (200°F). Skewer each loaf through the base, hang it upside down between two chairs and cool it fully, or the dome will collapse.

Technique

• Argentine pan dulce came with Genoese and Milanese immigrants and split into two camps: the tall, airy panettone style and the squatter, denser genoves loaded with more fruit and nuts. Both are correct at a Buenos Aires Christmas table.
• The dough is over 30 per cent butter and sugar, so it ferments slowly. Rushing either prove at high heat gives a bready loaf with a tight, dry crumb.
• Hanging it upside down is not a flourish. The wet, enriched crumb cannot support its own dome while hot and will sink into itself if left the right way up.

Substitutions

• No candied fruit, which many Argentines dislike: use 250 g of dried apricots, cherries and figs instead, and add an extra tablespoon of honey.

Variations

• Pan dulce con chocolate replaces the candied fruit with 250 g dark chocolate chunks, now the most sold version in Buenos Aires bakeries.
• Some households glaze the baked loaf with apricot jam and a thin white icing rather than the egg-and-almond crust.

History

Argentina’s Christmas panettone, brought by Italian immigrants and eaten with cider at midnight.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pan dulce?

Pan dulce is a bread & pastry from Argentina: domed Christmas bread studded with candied fruit and nuts. Argentina’s Christmas panettone, brought by Italian immigrants and eaten with cider at midnight.

How long does Pan dulce take to make?

Pan dulce takes 50 min of preparation and 12 hr fermenting plus 45 min baking of cooking. The recipe makes 2 loaves of about 700 g. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Pan dulce?

Yes, within limits. No candied fruit, which many Argentines dislike: use 250 g of dried apricots, cherries and figs instead, and add an extra tablespoon of honey.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pan dulce?

Add the salt, then the soft butter a cube at a time over about 10 minutes, waiting for each to disappear. Finish with the orange blossom water. The dough must reach the windowpane stage: stretched thin, it should let light through without tearing.