Panettone

Just in time for the Holidays, Sarah from Mason Cupcakes challenges the Fresh From the Oven bakers to make Panettone, an Italian holiday sweet bread. Panetone’s one of those classic breads that has quite intimidated me, as much as I’ve wanted to give it a try, so I was glad for Sarah’s detailed directions and encouragement.

Sarah provided us with her foolproof recipe, but I was a bit too scared of the bread to risk messing up the conversions, so I went in search of a recipe in cups. Luckily King Arthur Flour has a nifty conversion tool for many of their recipes, and I found two that sounded good. One was “American Style” and did not require the special Panettone pan, but I still wanted to try a more traditional Panettone, so I cut each recipe in half, and tried them both.

The dough for the traditional Pannetone was more moist, but did not rise as well as the American Style, which, even though the dough was denser, had more yeast to carry the rise. Due to a better rise, I wasn’t too surprised when the American style ended up soft and springy, and the traditional Panettone ended up more dense and caky. As T put it, the difference between the two was like the difference between coffee cake and cinnamon swirl bread.  They were both good, but quite different.  And,  since I’ve never had Pannetone before, I’m not entirely sure if the bread was supposed to turn out more like one or the other.

 

American Style Panettone

Recipe Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: one small 6” diameter loaf,

STARTER

1 1/2 c (177g) all-purpose flour
1/2 c (113g) water
1/16 tsp yeast

DOUGH

All of the starter
3 eggs
1/2 c (113g) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 1/2 c (298g) all-purpose flour
1/3 c (67g) sugar
5 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 c (255g) dried fruit, chopped

Directions

1) Starter: Combine flour, water and yeast, kneading briefly to make a stiff dough.  Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and allow it to rise overnight, about 12 hours.
2) Dough: Combine all of ingredients except dried fruit, mixing with an electric mixer.
3) Knead the dough until it comes together from a soft, gummy dough, to a cohesive, yet still a bit sticky ball of dough.  (This takse a bit of kneading.)
4) Place the dough in a greased bowl, and let rest for an hour. It won’t rise much; that’s OK.
5) Knead the fruit into the dough.  Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes, then shape it into a ball.  Poke a hole in the center of the ball and slip the dough over the ring of a lightly greased 9″ to 10″ tube pan.  Cover the pan, and set the dough aside to rise for 2 hours.
6) Bake the panettone in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 to 40 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil if it appears to be browning too quickly.  (There’s a wide time-range here due to the difference in center diameters of  tube pans; the smaller the diameter, the longer the bread will bake.)  The internal temperature of the dough should register 190°F to 205°F when it’s done.
7) Remove the panettone from the oven, let rest for 5 min and turn out of pan onto wire rack.

 

Apricot Ginger Panettone

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: one 9’ tube loaf

 STARTER

1 c (120g) all-purpose flour
1/2 c (113g) water
1/16 tsp yeast

DOUGH

All of the starter
2 eggs
6 Tbsp (85g) unsalted butter
2 1/2 c (298g) all-purpose flour
1/4 c (50g) sugar
2 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp orange zest
1/4 c (57g) lukewarm water
1 c (128g) chopped dried apricots
1/3 c (50g) diced crystallized ginger

Directions

1) STARTER: combine ingredients in a mixing bowl, cover, and allow to rest overnight (8 to 12 hours at room temperature).
2) DOUGH: Combine the starter with the remainder of the dough ingredients (except the fruit), and mix and knead them together until you have a soft, sticky dough.  Knead in the ginger and apricots.  Cover, and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until it’s puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk).
3) Gently deflate the dough, and shape it into a ball.  Place it in a panettone pan or other straight-sided, tall 1 1/2- to 2-quart pan.  Cover and let rise until it has just crested over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F.
4) Bake the bread for 15 minutes; reduce the oven heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 35 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil if the crust appears to be browning too quickly.
5) Remove the panettone from the oven, turn out onto a wire rack to cool.