Panettone recipe
- "00" flour: 250g
- Manitoba flour: 250g
- Granulated sugar: 200g
- Butter: 160g
- Brewer's yeast: 12g
- 4 large free-range eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- A pinch of salt
- Raisins: 150g
- Candied orange and lemon peel: 80g
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 vanilla bean
- Lukewarm milk or water as needed
Dissolve 10 grams of brewer's yeast in lukewarm water or milk and combine with 75 grams of flour. Knead until you get a non-sticky and homogeneous mixture. Form it into a ball, make a cross cut on top with a knife and place it in a small bowl covered with cling film. Let it rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place.
Soak the raisins in a bowl of lukewarm water to rehydrate them. You will need them later.
When the first dough (called 'lievitino' or 'biga') has doubled in volume, take it and knead it together with 250 grams of flour, 2 whole eggs and another 2 grams of brewer's yeast. You can mix everything by hand or, even better, if you have a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead at low speed until the mixture becomes homogeneous.
Take it out and let it rise again, always in a bowl covered with cling film, in a warm place. It should double in volume in about 1.5 to 2 hours. After this time, take the dough and put it back in the stand mixer. Add 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks and the remaining flour. Knead as before until you get a homogeneous dough, only then add the remaining sugar and a pinch of salt. Once the sugar is absorbed, you can incorporate the remaining butter, which should always be very soft.
Knead until you have a smooth, non-sticky, and elastic dough. At this point, you can add all the candied fruit, well-drained raisins, grated lemon zest, and vanilla powder. Mix everything for about 5 minutes and let it rise again until it has doubled in volume. This may take 2 to 3 hours.
After this time, take the dough and place it in a panettone mold (1 kg), which can be paper, as in our case, or rigid. In the latter case, grease it well with butter. Let it rise for the last time until it has more or less reached the edge of the mold. At that point, you will be ready to bake the panettone. Place it on the lowest rack of a preheated static oven at 200°C along with a small bowl full of water. After 5 minutes of cooking, with a sharp knife, make a cross cut on the top of the panettone. In the center of this cross cut, place a knob of butter.
Put it back in the oven and let it cook for another 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes.
Cooking times vary depending on the oven, always check that the indicated time is sufficient by inserting a skewer stick into the panettone. If it comes out dry and clean, the panettone is cooked. Be careful, if you notice that the surface is burning, lower the temperature by 10 degrees and continue cooking for longer.
Chocolate lovers can substitute raisins and candied fruit with 200 grams of dark chocolate chips, adding them to the corresponding step in the recipe.
The Milanese Panettone with its modern variations has a particular taste that is enhanced only by pairing it with certain types of wines.
The wine for Panettone must be sweet, fragrant, and with a delicate taste that does not overpower the various nuances of flavor given by the Panettone ingredients, such as a Moscato or a Passito.