Panettone recipe wanted...

Here's my tried-and-true version of pannetone. Warning: It's addictive! ;-)

Karen

PANNETONE

1/4 cup diced orange peel 1/4 cup diced lemon peel 1/4 cup diced citron (optional) 1/2 cup dark raisins 1/2 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup currants (optional) 1/4 cup dry sherry

Toss fruit in sherry; let stand 30 minutes. Measure flour (see recipe below), then combine drained dried fruit with the flour.

1 cup warm water (110°F) 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup plain, nonfat yogurt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Zest of one lemon 1/2 cup white sugar (can decrease to 1/4 cup if desired) 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (or 1/4-ounce package)

In medium bowl, combine yeast, water, and sugar. Cover and let stand 10 minutes, or until foamy. Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Mix well. Stir in flour (to which dried fruit has been added) 1/2 cup at a time until dough forms a manageable ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary, until dough is soft and pliable but not sticky. (May need up to 5 cups flour.) Place dough in a large, lightly Pam-sprayed bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and spray a round 8-inch cake pan with nonstick spray. Punch down dough. Form dough into a ball, place in prepared cake pan, cover loosely with dish towel, and let rise 30 minutes. (Loaf will rise above the pan sides.) Brush with 1 tablespoon melted butter, if desired. Bake on lowest rack in oven for 45 minutes, or until loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover loaf with foil during last 15-20 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning. Makes 1 loaf (10 wedges).

Note: I've also made this successfully in my bread machine. Just add ingredients in the order that your ABM manufacturer recommends (remember, the dried fruit will be mixed with the flour) and bake on large light loaf setting.

To make smaller individual pannetone for gift-giving, punch down and divide dough (after first rise) into 4 equal portions. Form into balls and place in Pam-sprayed 2-cup soufflé dishes; cover loosely with dish towel, and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 325°F for about 30 minutes. Cover with foil last 15-20 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning.

As an aside, I like to bake panettone in a clay flowerpot. Comes out very nice.

What a great idea - I've heard that baking in a large coffee tin works well to get the traditional shape.

Cool! Thanks - I'm off to the grocery store to get the ingredients

Thank you :-)

Coffee tins work quite well too. That's the thing to use if you want perfect 90 degree sides. I have a very big flower pot that has a very slight angle to it.

Since the shape is so odd and there is so much surface covered by the cooking container I take it out when it's about 3/4 done, remove it from the pot, then finish cooking it right on the baking stone. This adds some needed crisp to the crust, which can be a bit too soft and colorless otherwise.

Karen, I made your pannetone recipe today. If you want to see it, I put it on a page of my website at

hope the picture comes up -- it's the first one -- I've not had my spousecheck to see if it got uploaded.I took your basic recipe, put it in the bread machine, eventually adding somuch flour that I knew that I couldn't chance it to bake in the breadmachine because it would rise above the lid. Instead of the 2 1/4 teaspoonsdry yeast , I used 2 teaspoons of instant yeast, which is the type of yeastI always use for the bread machine. I put it on the "sweet" setting for 2hours (the complete baking on "sweet" is 2:50). Mary Ann Espisito in one of her books re Pannetone says after a rising of 6 hours to place it in a well- greased (I used heavy butter) and floured crock pot for 35 minutes to rise.. I let it rise in the crockpot for 1-1/2 hours after the 2 hours in the bread machine. I followed Espisito's instructions and cut an X in the top of the bread and baked 5 minutes at

400, 10 minutes at 375. and 30 minutes at 350 (she called for 30-35 minutes) The last 5 minutes I put foil over the top to keep it from overbrowning.

One thing I missed was an extract, and I can't recall what extract they normally use in the store-bought Pannetone's that seems to me to be the hallmark of what a Pannetone smells (as well as tastes like). I have never bought the bakery-made ones in Whole Foods, so I can't speak for their taste.

Again, thanks Karen for sending in the recipe and spurring me on to make my first Pannetone.

(I toasted a couple of pieces and put some raspberry jam on it.)

Dee

I hope the picture comes up -- it's the first one -- I've not had my spouse> check to see if it got uploaded.That's quite a nice looking panettone. Great work!

Dee, your pannetone looks perfect - you did a great job on it! I'm so glad I was able to help you out with a recipe. I haven't made this in a couple of years, and I miss it. I was diagnosed with diabetes last year, and breads aren't in my meal plan as they spike my blood sugar something fierce...sigh.

It took me a long time to perfect this recipe. I'd had some excellent store-bought pannetone and wanted to recreate that taste, which spurred me into action. This comes pretty close!

The crockpot-rising idea is a good one; I'll have to remember that for the future.

Thanks for letting us know how your pannetone turned out.

Karen

Dee, your results are fantastic! I've been having good results with a nice rye bread recipe, but haven't scanned any pictures yet.

Thank you, Limey No. 1 (from England?) I hope you will put them on a website, if you have one, so I can see our results. If you don't have one, you can always mail me a scanned copy if you so wish. Rye breads are sticky situations, heh? My best, Dee