Sourdough Panettone

The best things in life take at least a little effort. This is also true for the hugely popular festive cake with candied fruit – the panettone. It is a traditional Italian festive dessert. It differs from other types of fruit bread mainly because of the long levitation process, which makes the dough soft and fluffy.

Panettone has originated in 1491, when Duke Ludovico Maria Sforza, known as Il Moro, ruled Milan city (Italy). At the Sforzesco Castle, which still stands in the centre of Milan, was working a servant called Toni. He was a talented chef with a big heart, who used the leftovers from the castles feasts to prepare tasty dishes for the poor citizens. Word of his generosity spread by word of mouth and there was a long line of poor people snaking along the street from the castle's kitchen door, waiting for Toni's free meals. Legend says that Il Moro hosted a feast on Christmas day in 1491. When the head chef failed his dessert, he remembered Toni's charity project. They searched the shelfs of the kitchen and found a tall and fluffy cake. Toni had baked it from leftover ingredients for the orphans - but instead it delighted the assembled dignitaries at the gala feast. It was the “Pan de Toni”, panne in Italian means bread, which means it was the Bread of Toni. We could say, that at the end of the 15th century a true Christmas miracle was born, and it lives on today.

You can find panettone in almost every Italian shop, around festivities. The best panettone is still the one made in good patisseries or at home.

Ingredients for the first dough :

• 76 g sourdough starter
• 75 g of sugar
• 90 g of water
• 60 g of egg yolks
• 85 g butter (at room temperature)
• 240 g of manitoba flour (strong flour, high gluten and high protein, bread making index W 350)

Ingredients for the main dough:

• all the first dough
• 60 g of manitoba flour
• aromatic mix
• 4 g of salt
• 60 g of sugar
• 80 g of egg yolks
• 90 g of butter
• 40 g of water
• 120 g of soaked raisin
• 60 g candied orange
• 30 g candied citron

Ingredients for the aromatic mix:

• 30 g of honey
• zest of 1 organic lemon
• zest of 1 organic orange

Prepare it at least two days before the main dough

First of all prepare the aromatic mix it at least two days before the main dough.

Mix all the ingredients and putting it in the fridge, covered.

In the first bowl, mix the egg yolks and sugar until foamy.

Put the water and the sourdough starter in a second bowl and stir until is well dissolved.

Then add the flour and mix slowly.

Gradually add the egg yolks and sugar.

When everything is well assembled, add the butter and mix on medium speed for about 25 minutes.

When the dough is well combined, place it in a buttered bowl and leave to rise up at room temperature for 18 hours or until the dough has tripled in volume.

The dough after 18 hours rest

Place the first dough in the bowl of the mixer and add the flour and egg yolks with the sugar. Then add the water in which the salt has been dissolved and bind the mixture well. Only when you have a homogeneous texture you can add the butter, the candied fruits, raisins and the aromatic mix.

Transfer the dough from the bowl on a working surface which you have previously buttered, and leave to rest for an hour without covering it.

After one hour, make the folds, make a ball, and leave on the counter for a further 15 minutes.

Then make the folds again and place the dough in the baking tin.

The dough should rise for 6-8 hours at 28° C, covered, until it has risen to the edge of the tin (to achieve the temperature I’ve put it in the oven with the light on).

Once the dough has risen sufficiently, put it on the counter and leave it at room temperature for another 45 minutes until it forms a nice crust on the surface, so that you can cut it neatly in a form of a cross.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200° C. Bake at 200° C for the first five minutes and then reduce to 180° C and bake for a further 45 minutes. Place a pan of water in the oven to keep the dough moist during baking.

The panettone must be chilled upside down for 24 hours. To do that use one bigger pot and knitting needles.

This was my first home-made Panettone. It was very tasty and everyone like it very much. I also liked it, but there is still much space for improvement. I think I should use a smaller tin next time since it was not so tall as I expected, but since it was very fluffy, I think the reason was just in the size of the tin. If you haven’t tasted this Italian goody yet, I warmly recommend it 😊.

Bon Appetite 🍽️ 🍴 😋

Thanks for reading,
feel free to leave a comment, I will be glad to reply to.
Best regards, @miljo76