Panettone Caseiro

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with dough hook, optional but helpful
• •Large mixing bowl
• •1 tall 1kg panettone paper mold, or 2 smaller 500g molds
• •Baking tray
• •2 long metal or wooden skewers
• •Instant-read thermometer, optional but useful

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the fruit

   Put the candied fruit and raisins in a small bowl with the orange juice and the cachaça or rum, if using. Stir and let them sit for 30 minutes while you start the dough. The fruit should look glossy and a little plumper. Dry fruit pulls water from the dough as it bakes, and then you get a tight crumb and blame yourself. Don't.

2. 2

   Wake the yeast

   Stir the warm milk, yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 cup flour in a large bowl or mixer bowl until you have a thick paste. Cover and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes, until it looks puffed and bubbly. This little sponge proves the yeast is alive before you spend the good butter and eggs. If it stays flat and silent, your yeast is tired. Start again with fresh yeast.

3. 3

   Mix the dough

   Add the 3 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, orange zest, lemon zest, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and honey to the sponge. Mix until the flour disappears and the dough looks shaggy, sticky, and uneven, about 2 minutes. That's normal. Enriched dough starts messy because eggs and sugar need time to hydrate the flour.

4. 4

   Add the butter

   Add the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each spoonful before adding the next. The dough will smear, resist, then pull itself back together. This is the part where people panic and throw in flour. Anota aí: don't. Butter needs time to join the dough, and extra flour now makes a dry panettone later.

   Softened butter means it gives when you press it, not melted butter. Melted butter makes the dough greasy and loose, and then you chase the mistake with flour.
5. 5

   Knead until elastic

   Knead with a dough hook on medium-low for 10 to 12 minutes, or by hand for 18 to 20 minutes with lightly oiled hands. The dough should turn shiny, stretchy, and tacky, pulling into a thin sheet when you stretch a small piece. If it's still more like batter after a 10-minute rest, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. The goal is soft and elastic, not stiff. Stiff dough gives you bread that eats like a sponge left in the sink.

6. 6

   Let it rise

   Lightly oil a large bowl, tuck the dough into it, cover, and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled, 2 to 3 hours. Don't stare at the clock like it's the boss of you. Look at the dough. It should be puffy, rounded, and slower to spring back when you press it with a fingertip. Sugar, eggs, and butter slow yeast down, so this rise takes patience.

7. 7

   Fold in fruit

   Drain the fruit well and pat it dry with a clean towel. Flatten the risen dough gently into a rectangle, scatter the fruit over it, and fold the dough over itself until the fruit is spread through. Work gently. Wet fruit skids around and tears the dough; dry fruit folds in cleanly and stays where you put it.

8. 8

   Shape and proof

   Shape the dough into a tight ball by tucking the edges underneath, then place it smooth side up in a 1kg panettone paper mold set on a baking tray. Cover loosely and let it rise until the dome sits about 1 inch below the rim, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Underproofed dough bursts hard in the oven; overproofed dough sighs and collapses. You want a soft, proud dome that still has a little strength.

9. 9

   Score and bake

   Heat the oven to 180 C (350 F). Cut a shallow cross on the top with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, tuck the 1 tablespoon cold butter into the center, and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven to 160 C (325 F) and bake 35 to 45 minutes more, until the top is deep golden and an instant-read thermometer in the center reads 92 C (198 F). If the top browns too fast, lay foil loosely over it. The lower heat finishes the center without burning the crown.

10. 10

    Cool upside down

    Set up two tall pots or sturdy supports with a gap between them before the bread comes out. As soon as the panettone is baked, push two long skewers through the lower third of the paper mold, then turn it upside down and rest the skewers across the supports. Let it cool this way for at least 2 hours. The crumb is hot, soft, and fragile; cooling upside down keeps the tall loaf from sinking into itself. Skip it if you must, but know the cost: a flatter top.

Chef Tips

• •Bread flour gives the tallest, softest panettone. All-purpose flour still works, but knead longer and trust the rest time before adding extra flour. The dough should be tacky. Panettone is not a dry dough wearing a party hat.
• •Skip panettone essence and any packet pretending to be Christmas. Fresh orange zest, lemon zest, vanilla, honey, and real fruit give you a cleaner flavor, and you know what went into the bowl.
• •Supermarket frutas cristalizadas are an honest shortcut. It won't taste like peel you candied yourself, but making candied fruit from zero in Christmas week is not a moral requirement. Buy the best-tasting fruit you can, and if it tastes bitter or perfumed, don't put it in your bread.
• •The clock is a guide, not a judge. A cold kitchen can add an hour to each rise. A warm kitchen can move faster. Watch for doubled dough, a puffy dome, and a slow fingertip spring.
• •Cool it completely before slicing. Warm panettone smells unfairly good, I know, but slicing too early compresses the crumb and makes it gummy. The cook's tax can be the first proper slice once it cools.
• •Wrap leftovers tightly. Panettone keeps 3 days at room temperature, and older slices are excellent toasted with a little butter. That's not waste, that's breakfast solved.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the candied fruit and raisins in orange juice up to 24 hours ahead, covered in the fridge. Drain and pat dry before folding into the dough.
• •For an overnight schedule, let the kneaded dough rise 45 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate it overnight. The next day, let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour before folding in the fruit and shaping.
• •Baked panettone freezes well for up to 2 months. Cool completely, wrap tightly, and freeze whole or in thick slices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)