Panettone
This festive Italian bread is mainly enjoyed at Christmas and New Year, but it’s that tasty I eat this all year round.
Panettone
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp warm milk
- 14 g (2 x 7g) sachets fast-action dried yeast
- 100 g caster sugar
- 250 g salted butter, softened
- 5 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 lemon, grated zest
- 1 orange, grated zest
- 500 g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- pinch of salt
- 80 g raisins
- 80 g sultanas
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 100 g candied lemon and orange peel, finely chopped
Instructions
- Grease a panettone tin, or a 20cm deep cake tin.
- Place the warm milk in a bowl, add the yeast and 1tsp of sugar and leave for a few minutes.
- Put the remaining sugar in a large bowl, beat together with the butter and vanilla extract until really light, creamy and pale.
- Stir in the lemon and orange zest. Add the eggs a little at a time, with 2 tbsp of flour in between to stop the mixture from curdling.
- Place the flour in a large bowl and mix with a good pinch of salt and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture then the butter and eggs, folding in with a large spoon to make a soft dough. The dough will be really sticky at this point.
- Turn out the dough onto a floured surface, put some flour on your hands and knead the dough for 10-15mins until you have a very soft and stretchy dough. If the mixture becomes too sticky, add a little more flour to the surface and your hands.
- Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 2hrs until doubled in size.
- Place the raisins and sultanas in a small saucepan with the rum and gently heat for 5-7 mins until the fruit has absorbed the liquid and is plump and juicy. Set aside to cool.
- When the dough has risen, tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for another 5mins. Gradually add all the dried fruit and knead for another 5mins.
- Shape the dough into a ball and pop into the prepared tin. Wrap a layer of baking paper around the outside of the tin, to come up about 5cm above the rim and secure the paper with string. This helps to contain the dough as it rises. Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise for another hour until it has risen to the top of the tin.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºc/Gas 4. Place in the oven for 40-50 mins until risen and golden brown and that a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10mins before turning out onto a wire rack.
- Leave to cool completely before cutting into wedges.