Ingredients
Lievito madre
- an active stiff sourdough starter, refreshed three times on the day
First dough
- 300 gstrong bread flour, W330 or higher
- 120 gsugar
- 150 mlwater
- 120 gegg yolks
- 150 gbutter, softened
- 100 grefreshed lievito madre
Second dough
- 80 gstrong bread flour
- 60 gsugar
- 60 gegg yolks
- 100 gbutter, softened
- 8 gsalt
- 1vanilla pod
- grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
- 2 tbsphoney
Fruit
- 200 gcandied orange peel
- 100 gcandied citron
- 200 gsultanas, soaked and dried
Equipment
- a paper panettone mould
- two long skewers
- a thermometer
Directions
- Use a strong flour, W330 or higher, sold as flour for panettone or for long fermentation. In the evening, make the first dough: mix the flour, sugar and water, then add the starter and knead until smooth.
- Add the yolks gradually, then the softened butter a little at a time, kneading each addition in fully. Add the fats and yolks slowly and patiently. Dumped in at once they break the gluten and the dough will never come together. Knead until the dough is glossy, elastic and passes a windowpane test.
- Prove it at 24 to 26°C (75 to 79°F) for 10 to 12 hours, until it has tripled. Too cool and it will not triple overnight; too warm and it over-ferments and collapses.
- Knead until the dough is once more smooth, glossy and passing a windowpane, which can take twenty minutes. Keep the dough below 26°C (79°F) throughout the kneading, cooling the bowl if you have to. Fold in the candied peel and sultanas by hand, gently, at the very end.
- Add the fruit last and fold rather than knead, or the pieces tear the gluten structure you have spent hours building. Rest the dough 1 hour, then shape it into a tight ball with a folding and rounding motion, and drop it into the paper mould.
- Prove at 26 to 28°C for 5 to 7 hours, until the dough has risen to about 2 cm below the rim. Cut a cross in the top with a blade, lift the corners, place a knob of butter in the centre and fold them back.
- Bake at 165°C (330°F) for 45 to 55 minutes, until the core reaches 92 to 94°C (198 to 201°F). Use a thermometer and go by the core temperature, not by colour. Hang it inverted for at least 12 hours. The crumb is so light and so laden with butter that it collapses under its own weight if it cools upright, and this is not optional.
Technique
- Italian law defines what may be sold as panettone, including minimum butter and egg yolk content.
- It keeps for weeks wrapped, because the sourdough and the sugar preserve it.
- Leftovers make outstanding bread and butter pudding or French toast.
Substitutions
- A commercial yeast version, which is a different and much easier bread.
- Chocolate chips in place of candied fruit, which is now common.
Variations
- Pandoro, the Veronese Christmas cake with no fruit.
- With chocolate, pistachio or apricot.
- Colomba, the same dough baked as a dove at Easter.
History
A Milanese Christmas bread industrialised by Angelo Motta in 1919, who made it taller using a paper mould and a longer leavening.
Frequently asked questions
What is Panettone?
Panettone is a bread & pastry from Italy: tall candied-fruit Christmas bread from Milan. A Milanese Christmas bread industrialised by Angelo Motta in 1919, who made it taller using a paper mould and a longer leavening.
How long does Panettone take to make?
Panettone takes 2 hr plus 24 hr fermenting and 12 hr hanging of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 large panettone. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Panettone?
Yes, within limits. A commercial yeast version, which is a different and much easier bread. Chocolate chips in place of candied fruit, which is now common.
What is the most important thing to get right in Panettone?
Add the yolks gradually, then the softened butter a little at a time, kneading each addition in fully. Add the fats and yolks slowly and patiently. Dumped in at once they break the gluten and the dough will never come together. Knead until the dough is glossy, elastic and passes a windowpane test.
