Monday, May 14, 2007

PANETTONE - MILANESE BREAD

This traditional bread from Milan in Italy is very popular all over the world during the Christmas and New Year period as well as on Easter day. It is a sweet bread that is renowned for being the favorite gift during those festivities, but also at any time of the year, because it is so delicious...

The origin of the name "Panettone" (see info) comes from a milanese baker named Toni who fell in love with a very beautiful woman he used to see walk past by his bakery everyday. In order to tempt her inside his boutique and after six months of hard labour, he created a golden, tall, domed loaf. His plan worked well, but unfortunately, when their eyes met, he fell out of love for her! All his efforts were not in vain as his new creation called "Pan De Toni" ("Toni's Bread"), currupted to "Panettone", is now well-spread throughout Italy and the rest of the world, and much loved by everybody.

The recipe for this "Panettone" is absolutely wonderful, because the loaf you'll end up with is as good or even better than the ones that you can buy for exasperatingly high prices in stores. It's really incredible both taste- and texture-wise!

Thanks to the biga method (traditional), this "Panettone" has an extremely moist and light soft interior and an uncomparable and elegant flavor. Not only does it look aesthetically beautiful, but it is also very good tasting. "Panettone" is the queen of brioches, a delightful dessert bread that is delicately perfumed with the comforting and mellow aromas of vanilla and lemon! No word can describe the way you feel or translate the intense pleasure you experience when you are savoring this scrummy speciality...

~ Panettone or Milanese Bread ~
Recipe by The King Arthur Flour and adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums

Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredients for the biga (starter):
1 1/2 Cups (180g) Plain white flour
1/2 Cup (125g) Water
1/2 Tsp Dried yeast
Ingredients for the dough:

3 Large eggs (~ 53g)
1/2 Cup (125g) Unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 Cups (315g) Plain white flour
1/3 Cup (75g) Castor sugar
5 Tsps Dried yeast
1 1/2 Tsps Salt
2 Tsps Vanilla extract
3/4 - 1 Tsp Lemon oil
A pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
1 1/2 Cups (270g) Dried fruits (see remarks)

Method for the biga:
1. Combine the flour, water and yeast, kneading briefly to make a stiff dough.
2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rise o
vernight at room temperature, about 12 hours
Method for the dough:
1. In a bowl and with the help of a mixer, combine the biga with all the ingredients for the dough, except the dried fruits.
2. Knead the dough until it's smooth and supple.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest
for 1 hour.
4. Then, knead the fruits into the dough, by hand or machine.
5. Let the dough rest for 10 mi
nutes, then shape it into a round loaf (ball method) and place it into the prepared pan/mould.
6. Use the tip of a sharp knife to cut an "X" across the top.
7. Cover the dough/pan with a towel and set it aside to rise for 2 hour
s or so.
8. Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F).
9. Bake the panettone for 45 minutes, tenting it with aluminium foil for the final 15 minutes of baking.
10. Remove the panettone from the oven, turn it out of the pan and let cool on a rack.
11. Sprinkle the top with icing sugar.

Remarks:
Regarding the dried fruits, I used 100g candied mixed peels, 50g candied citrus peel, 80g raisins and 40g sultanas.
Of course, you can use the mixture you wan
t. For example, you can take dried pinapple, mango, apricots, cranberries, candied cherries or toasted walnuts, etc...
As this dough is very difficult to make by hand, I recommend you to
use a machine of some sort (electric mixer).
When starting to knead, the dough will seem very gummy, but it will come together nicely at the end.
When kneading the fruits into the dough, work only until the dough has accepted the fruits, as overhandling will cause the fruits to release too much sugar into the dough, thus slowing the rise.
For the mould, take a 20cm (8 inches) wide pan which is 15
cm (6 inches) deep and grease it with some softened butter. Then, line the base and sides of the pan/mould with baking parchment, so that it extends 12cm (5 inches) above the top.
The loaf might not double in size when rising for the second time, but that's normal (although mine did).
Tap the underside of the loaf with your fingers, if it sounds hollow, then it's perfectly baked and ready.
You can keep this bread a few days, wrapped in towels, at room temperature.

Serving suggestions:
Eat for breakfast or teatime, cut into thickish slices and sprinkled with more icing sugar.

36 comments:

  1. J'adore cette spécialité le matin avec un peu de beurre, c'est juste trop bon !! !Et le tien est vraiment très beau et réussit !!! un grand bravo !!!

    Bonne journée
    Claude

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  2. Bravo il est vraiment beau, je voulais le faire il y a un petit moment et à chaque fois j'hésite, ta recette est vraiment intéressante

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  3. Rosa, il est splendide. J'ai rate le dernier que j'avais fait, en fait je voulais faire un pandoro, qui s'est completement ecroule. Mais la tu me donnes envie de remettre la main a la pate.

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  4. il est tres beau mais j'hésite a le faire : je ne sais vraiment pas dans quel moule je pourrai le mettre
    on a cuisiné ITALIE toutes les deux

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  5. Pour un panetonne comme ça, j'irais bien te voir et revoir mon Salève aussi.

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  6. Panettone has been on my to-do list forever...didn't have to patience to invest all that time to make the perfect one like you did! Looks wonderfully delicious!

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  7. Il est vraiment superbe! Quelle mie moelleuse! .-)

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  8. il est vraiment sublime !
    Ne manque que le moule

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  9. CLAUDE-OLIVIER: Merci beaucoup pur le gentil compliment :-D! Moi, je l'aime juste saupoudré avec du sucre glace... Bon début de semaine!

    PAPRIKAS: Merci! Et bien je te recommande vivement d'en faire car, crois-moi, c'est l'un des meilleurs panettone que j'aie mangé! Et c'est pas si compliqué...

    GRACIANNE: Merci, Gracianne! Oui, les ratés ça existe, mais il ne faut pas que tu désespères! Je suis sûre que tu réussiras le prochain pandoro...

    MOUNET: Merci beaucoup! Tu peux très bien le mettre dans un moule à cake rond ou rectangulaire, ou dans une casserole haute... Oui, l'Italie nous a captivée dernièrement!

    MAMINA: Et bien, je vais devoir en refaire très bientôt ;-P!...

    LINDA: Thanks for the visit and the kind coment, Linda! I really recommend you to try making Panettone at home, especially this one! It's not so complicated as it seems...

    ELVIRA: Merci, Elvira :-D! Oui, la mie était vraiment moelleuse et aérienne (comme elle doit être)...

    DOMIE: Merci, Domie! Je n'ai pas de vrai moule à panettone (je ne saurais pas où en trouver), mais le système D marche aussi...

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  10. Il est super réussi, trop eau en plus, c'est trop bon

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  11. POM D'API: Merci beaucoup! Oui, c'est super bon...

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  12. J'adore le panettone, merci pour la recette. Le tien est magnifique.
    Bises isabelle

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  13. J'avais vu de mignons pannettone chez confiture maison, mais je ne me suis pas encore lancée ! Tu t'es hyper-bien débrouillée, toi aussi !
    Bisous
    Hélène

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  14. Il est très réussie ton panetonne, j'en predrais bien un morceau.

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  15. Waouh! Qu'est-ce qu'il est beau ton panetone!

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  16. Il est sublime ce panetone!

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  17. Le Panetone, à la maison, tout le monde adore, mais je ne me suis jamais lancé dans l'expérience !
    Il est magnifique le tien. Bises, Marie

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  18. Rosa, that looks amazing. The first time I tried panettone was during the festive season (Christmas) when I was travelling around Italy, and it was love at first sight & bite. Thanks for the recipe, especially the tips. I feel more confident to try to make this.

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  19. Ah, I wish I had the time to make this - but I work every day of the week, so finding the time would be difficult. The biga would either be left to rise for only a few hours, or nearly 24!

    Rest assured, when I have a day off, I'll be making this. I LOVE pannetone, would love to make it myself.

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  20. J'adore le panettone et le tien me met l'eau à la bouche, il est vraiment magnifique.

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  21. Mais pourquoi suis-je aussi saisonniere ?!! C'est si bon le pannetone, et si festif, c'est bon d'en manger plus d'une fois l'an!! Tradition de Paques aussi dis-tu? Je ne savais pas.

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  22. Ton panettone est magnifique! Je n'ai jamais "osé" me lancer... Là, tu me donnes envie

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  23. il est magnifique !
    j'en prendrais bien un gros morceau pour mon petit déj

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  24. J'adore la panettone....elle est bien jolie...

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  25. ISA6916: Merci beaucoup! Bises...

    HÉLÈNE (cannes): Merci, Hélène! Je te conseille de te lancer sans plus attendre car ça vaut vraiment la peine d'en faire! Bises...

    DORIA: MErci :-D! Je t'offre un morceau...

    MENUS PROPOS: Merci pour ce gentil commentaire!

    KATE34: Merci infiniment!

    MARIE: Merci, Marie! Il faut absolument que tu en fasses! Tu verras que tu ne le regretteras pas et car ta famille sera aux anges. Bises...

    NORA B.: Thanks for your visit and kind comment! I love Panettone, but never ate it in Italy. I'm glad you like that recipe and that it made you confident to bake one of those delicious brioches...

    ANNA: Thanks for your nice comment and for your visit on my blog! Yes, if you work every day of the week, it might be difficult to make such a bread. I hope that this recipe will help...

    MISS DIANE: Merci beaucoup :-D!

    TABLISSIMO: Merci! Oui, tu dois essayer d'en faire car c'est tellement bon!!!

    MICHETTE: Merci, MIchette! Je t'offre un beau morceau ;-P...

    CACHOU66: Merci! Le panettone, c'est trop délicieux...

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  26. J'ai découvert la panettone il y a peu de temps. J'adore. Il va falloir que je ma lance. Quelle réussite, la tienne est superbe.

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  27. HÉLÈNE: Merci! Je te recommande le panettone maison car c'est fabuleux ;-P! Un vrai régal!

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  28. Hello Rosa,
    I've tried your panettone recipe and it's very delicious plus it's quite easy to do it..now my hb nagging me to do it t least twice a week:P

    Thank you again for the recipe and BTW I put the recipe in my blog..

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  29. HANIM: Thanks for visiting my blog and for the kind comment!
    I'm glad you liked my Panettone recipe and that it turned out well! Yes, it is quite easy to make and it gives great results...

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  30. Hi Rosa!

    For a long time I'm trying to find the perfect recipe for Panettone. Now I think that found it. It's your recipe. Thank you very much.

    But... I have some questions if it's possible...

    1. Do you use the plain flour or still the strong (bread) flour?
    2. Are the vanilla extract and vanilla essence equivalent?
    3. The lemon oil... What is this? This is a pure oil of lemon (with high concentration) or a oil draw with lemon? (for exapmle olive oil with lemon)

    Thank you.

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  31. EUGENE: Thanks for passing by and for your comment!
    1. I used plain flour, but strong white flour is also ok. My flour has 13% protein.
    2. Yes, they are.
    3. Yes, lemon oil is lemon extract/essence or the natural oil from lemons (peel), not oil with lemon flavor.
    I hope that helps...
    Chers!

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  32. Hi Rosa.

    It's I am again :)

    I have some questions more. But at this time I send you E-Mail. Perhaps I must wrote here... but I shy to do it. ;)

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  33. Impossible to believe... but it's true. I found the recipe which searched for a long time! This recipe of Panettone is excellent.

    Rosa, thank you very much. One more my dreams come true. :))

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  34. EUGENE: Thanks for the kind comment, Eugene! I'm glad I made one of your culinary dreams come true :-D!

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  35. c'est hyper delicieux les enfants en raffolent le mari aussi!!! merci beaucoup Rosa

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