Foodie Friday - Pannetone

Pannetone is an Italian cake that is special to Christmas and the New Year.  It started out in Milan but can be bought all over.

If you want to make your own (not recommended) here is a traditional recipe for it:

Ingredients

·         First refresh

• 20g of strong white flour
• 20g of natural yeast
• 9g of water

·         Second refresh

• 40g of strong white flour
• 40g of natural yeast
• 17g of water

·         Third refresh

• 80g of strong white flour
• 80g of natural yeast
• 14g of water

·         First panettone dough

• 400g of strong white flour
• 170g of butter, soft
• 190g of natural yeast, from the third refresh
• 200g of egg yolk
• 150g of water, at 28C
• 175g of caster sugar

·         Second panettone dough

• 100g of strong white flour
• 35g of caster sugar
• 60g of egg yolks
• 60g of butter, soft
• 16g of honey
• 12g of salt
• 1/2 vanilla pod, Tahitian
• 1/2 orange, freshly zested
• 1/2 lemon, freshly zested
• 200g of candied orange zest, 1cmx1cm
• 200g of raisins

·         Icing

• 40g of white almond flour
• 40g of hazelnut flour
• 120g of caster sugar
• 9g of soft flour
• 2g of cocoa powder
• 3g of cornflour
• 50g of egg white
• almonds, to garnish
• pearl sugar, to garnish

Method

1

To begin, start making a mother dough - it’s best to do this at 6am the day before serving. Mix all of the ingredients for ‘natural yeast, first refresh’ in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and stir for 7 minutes, making sure the temperature of the dough does not exceed 27°C. Allow to rise for 3 hours at 27°C until tripled in volume

2

At approximately 10am, mix all of the ingredients for the ‘second refresh’ in the stand mixer with the first set of dough, stirring for 7 minutes. The final dough should reach a max temperature of 27°C. Leave to rise for 3 hours at 27°C until tripled in volume

3

At approximately 2pm, repeat the process with the mixture of ingredients for the third refresh, stirring for 7 minutes with the final dough reaching 27°C. Leave to rise for 3 hours at 27°C until tripled in volume. The resulting dough is the 'mother dough' for your panettone

4

That night (at around 6pm) make the first panettone dough. Melt the caster sugar in the water over a low heat, then add the flour and half of the egg yolks

5

Combine in a stand mixer and mix thoroughly to obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Add the 190g of mother dough from the third refresh and the remaining egg yolks, mixing until combined. Finish by adding the soft butter a little at a time. The final dough should be at a temperature of 26°C

6

Leave to rest and triple in volume for 12 hours at 27°C

7

At 7am the next day, make the second panettone dough by mixing the first dough with the flour in a stand mixer. Knead for about 15 minutes

8

Add the sugar and egg yolks in 3 additions, allowing to combine before the next addition each time

9

Add the honey, vanilla pod, orange and lemon zests. Once combined, add the salt and mix for another 3 minutes

10

Gradually add the soft butter a knob at a time and mix until smooth, shiny and elastic. Mix together the candied oranges and raisins and add to the dough. Allow to rest for one hour at 27°C

11

At approximately 8.30am, divide the dough in half – each piece should weigh about 1050g. Roll each piece twice and place in the panettone moulds. Leave to rise for another 6 hours at 27°C

12

At around 3.30pm, preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3.5

13

To make the icing, blend all of the ingredients with a hand blender and use to glaze the panettone. Sprinkle with almonds and pearl sugar

14

Bake until the inner part of the panettone reaches 94°C, then remove from the oven and leave to hang upside down by inserting a knitting needle or long piece of dowling through the bottom of the panettone and suspending it. Leave for 12 hours before serving