Sourdough Panettone
Description
Delicious baked goods for the whole family. You can safely say that this is one of the most challenging kinds of baking. The recipe is not simple, but I think it is worth giving it your attention and time so you can enjoy what you have made with your own hands! The most important things when making this bake are a good mood and quality ingredients. In the end you will get fragrant, buttery, incredibly tender, melt-in-your-mouth baked goods with an open, fine-pored crumb. The principle of making panettone is incorporating the maximum amount of fat into the dough. So panettone cannot be called a light, low-calorie dessert. But such a “rich” bake keeps for a long time and has a deep flavour and colour. Panettone can keep for several months. The bake is ready. Serve it at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Italian panettone dough is kneaded in two stages. For the first stage, prepare: 80 ml water, 3 egg yolks, 60 grams starter, 80 grams soft butter, 225 grams flour, and 70 grams sugar.
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Step 2
If you have never grown sourdough starter yourself, you can buy a ready-made dry mix. After feeding it for 3–4 days, you will get an active starter ready to use. In this recipe I am using exactly that kind of starter. You will see how it performs at the end of the recipe.
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Step 3
Slightly warm the water in the microwave so the sugar dissolves more easily in it.
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Step 4
Sift the flour into the stand mixer bowl.
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Step 5
Pour the prepared sugar syrup into the flour.
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Step 6
Place the bowl in the stand mixer and, using the dough hook, start kneading the dough. The dough is dense and heavy, so kneading it by hand is difficult; I recommend using a mixer or food processor. When the flour has absorbed all the liquid, gradually add the egg yolks to the dough one at a time, fully incorporating each one before adding the next.
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Step 7
When the dough is smooth and even, add the prepared starter and continue kneading.
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Step 8
Add softened butter.
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Step 9
At the end of the first stage, the dough semi-finished product is sticky, smooth, and uniform. Gather the dough and transfer it to a container greased with butter.
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Step 10
Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and leave it in a warm place to rise. Sourdough dough rises more slowly than yeast dough (3–6 hours).
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Step 11
The dough should triple in size. You can now move on to the second stage of kneading.
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Step 12
For the second stage, prepare candied fruit or raisins, 4 egg yolks, 90 grams of butter, 15 grams of liquid honey, 55 grams of flour, 5 grams of salt, and 55 grams of sugar. If the dough seems too thick to you, you can add a very small amount of water.
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Step 13
Transfer the risen dough to the stand mixer bowl and add sifted flour.
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Step 14
Continue kneading and, one at a time, fully work all the egg yolks into the dough.
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Step 15
Add liquid honey and butter rubbed with sugar and salt. While kneading, fold the prepared candied fruit into the dough.
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Step 16
Divide the finished dough into portions right away and transfer them to molds. Ceramic mugs work well as molds. I decided to make two large panettone, using small saucepans as molds. I lined the bottom and sides of the pans with parchment paper beforehand, building up the height. Wait until the dough has risen as much as possible. It took me 6 hours. Before baking, it is traditional to score the tops of the panettone with a sharp knife in a cross shape and place a small piece of butter in the center. Bake the panettone in an oven preheated to 190 degrees for the first 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 170 degrees and bake for another 50 minutes.
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Step 17
The finished bake needs to cool, then be unmolded. Panettone usually does not need extra decoration, but before baking I sprinkled the tops with a small amount of sliced almonds.
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Step 18
Now, with bated breath, we’ll cut into the finished bake, completely cooled. It’s pure bliss!
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Step 19
I wish you peace and goodness!