Panettone
Panettone is a sweet Italian cake with addition of dried and candied fruits, most popular during Christmas. It is baked in special forms that allow it to reach a considerable height and, consequently, a beautiful appearance. The panettone recipe I am sharing below will allow you to make this delicious baked treat at home. Work on this cake should be spread over time, as the entire process takes over a day. Start, of course, by preparing the yeast dough, which should be given time to rest in the fridge. Only the next day add the fruit to the dough, form it, leave it to rise and at the end bake it.
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Ingredients for panettone.
- 550 g bread flour + extra for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 80 g powdered sugar
- 25 g fresh yeast
- 1 teaspoon of grated orange zest
- 150 g soft butter
- 3 eggs “L”
- 1 egg yolk
- 200 ml lukewarm milk
- 100 g candied citrus peel
- 50 g raisins
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 50 g dried cranberries
- 80 ml lukewarm water
- 150 ml liqueur or rum
Additionally:
- egg
- pearl sugar
- a little oil
How to make panettone.
Put dried cranberries, raisins and candied citrus peel into a bowl. Pour in rum, wrap the bowl with cling film, and place it in the fridge overnight.
Sift 200 g of flour into a larger bowl, add lukewarm water, milk and yeast. Mix and then set it aside for 15 minutes to rise. Crack the eggs and egg yolk into a large bowl, add powdered sugar, salt and vanilla and whisk for 6 minutes. Next, add 350 g of sifted flour, the risen yeast and grated orange peel. Knead for 5 minutes. Next, while kneading in small batches add the soft butter and continue kneading for 12 minutes. This dough is quite soft, elastic and loose, but that’s how it should be, do not add additional flour at this stage. Grease a clean bowl with a little oil, place the dough in it, cover with foil and put in the fridge for 20 hours.
Pour the soaked fruit into a strainer and squeeze it out well. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a countertop lightly sprinkled with flour. Stretch it with your hands into a rectangle measuring approximately 30 by 30 centimetres. Sprinkle the dough with fruit, pressing it into the dough, then roll it up and divide it into 3 parts. Form each part into a ball, trying to use as little flour as possible. Place the dough balls into paper panettone molds, previously lightly greased with oil. Cover the molds with a cloth and leave in a warm place to rise for about 3 hours or until it doubles in volume. Brush the risen dough with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar, then place it in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Place the baked panettone on a wire rack and let it cool.
Good to know when making panettone.
I obtained three pieces of panettone from the given amounts of ingredients. I baked each of them in a mold measuring 11 centimetres in diameter and 8.5 centimetres in height.
If you have long metal toothpicks at home, you can try to cool the panettone in the traditional way, i.e. by inserting two toothpicks into the cake, turning it upside down and hanging it over a pot or bowl until it cools down. I skipped this step this time because the only toothpicks I have at home are wooden and unfortunately I couldn’t stick them into the mold. This cooling process will make the panettone even higher.
Do you like desserts with candied fruit? If so, try our recipe for Mincemeat.
