One of the most delectable sweet treats to look forward to in the Christmas period is a soft, sweet, thick slice of panettone. I've always wanted to make a panettone but shied away due to the horror stories about the regularity of bakers experiencing dense fillings and deflated centres...
I turned to my favourite recipe site for advice, Good Food, and discovered that they had published their own Panettone recipe. I followed this recipe to a 'T' and still, I suffered from the dreaded dense dry filling. The bread had also formed a crust on the outside which I wasn't too pleased about.
Panettone is not a bread for the faint of heart. Make no mistake, its tricky and requires an investment of time and money that not everyone will wish to spend. I certainly need to keep practicing! This recipe is a good start to find your feet when making this tricky sweet bread.
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
Panettone Dough
- 4 tbsp warm milk
- 2 x 7g sachets fast-action dried yeast
- 100g caster sugar
- 250g butter, softened
- 5 medium eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- grated zest of 1 orange
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 80g raisons
- 80g sultanas
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 100g finely chopped candied lemon and orange peel
For the topping
- 30g flaked blanched almonds
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp egg white
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Method:
1) Dough: Grease a panettone tin.
TIP: If you don't have a panettone tin, use a panettone case. If you have neither a tin or a case, use a 20cm deep cake tin and wrap baking paper around the inside forming a collar. This must be at least 5cm in height from the rim of the tin. To keep it in place when the dough rises, tie string around outside and staple the join. Secure the inside by sticking the baking paper to the walls of the tin using butter.
2) Place the warm milk in a bowl and add the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar. Leave for a few minutes.
3) Put the remaining sugar in a large bowl and beat together with the softened butter and vanilla extract until light, creamy and pale.
4) Stir in the lemon and orange zest. Add the eggs a little at a time until all are well incorporated.
TIP: If the mixture begins to curdle, add a tablespoon of flour into the mixture and beat this in with the eggs.
5) In a separate large bowl, mix together the flour and a good pinch of salt and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and then the butter and egg mixture. Fold all of the incorporated ingredients with a large spoon and make a soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes in the bowl until it all starts to come together. At this stage it will be pretty sticky.
6) Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a further 10 minutes. You should have a very soft, stretchy dough. Add a light sprinkling of flour to the surface and your hands to stop the mixture sticking.
7) Once you have finished kneading, place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover in cling film. Leave in a warm place for 2 hours until doubled in size.
8) While your dough is rising, place the raisins and sultanas in a small saucepan with the rum and heat gently for 5-7 minutes until the fruit has absorbed the liquid and is plum and juicy. Set aside to cool.
9) When the dough has risen, tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for another 5 mins. Next, mix together the sultana and raisin mix with the chopped candied peel and gradually incorporate the fruit and peel mix while you knead.
10) Once the fruit and peel is fully incorporated and evenly distributed, shape the dough into a ball and pop into the prepared tin. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for another hour until it has risen to the top of the tin or paper.
11) 10 minutes before the dough has finished rising, preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Adjust your oven shelves to allow for the tin to fit inside.
12) Topping: Mix together the almonds, caster sugar and egg white. Gently brush or place the mixture over the top of the panettone.
13) Place in the oven for 40 minutes until golden and risen. The skewer should come out clean when ready. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before dusting lightly with icing sugar and cutting into wedges to serve.
Credit to: Good Food
This panettone is best enjoyed the same day that it is baked.
