Panettone
Milan's tall, airy Christmas bread, studded with candied fruit and raisins. A two-day project, but worth every hour.
- prep
- 1 h 30 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total
- 2 h 20 min
- serves
- 12
- level
- hard
Panettone is Milan's great Christmas bread: tall, impossibly light, and dotted with candied orange peel and raisins. The height and airiness come from a long, slow fermentation in stages, which is why real panettone takes most of a day to make rather than an afternoon.
It is eaten through Christmas and New Year, at breakfast with coffee or as dessert with a glass of sweet wine. This version simplifies the classic three-stage dough into two rises using commercial yeast, so it is still a project, just not a two-day one.
method
Proof the yeast in the warm milk with a spoonful of the sugar until foamy. Mix in the eggs, yolks, remaining sugar, honey, salt, orange zest, and vanilla.
Work in the flour to form a sticky dough, then knead in the softened butter a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is smooth, glossy, and elastic, about 15 minutes by hand or 8 in a stand mixer.
Knead in the raisins and candied peel. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours, until roughly tripled.
Gently deflate and shape the dough into a ball. Place it in a tall paper panettone mold (or a deep round pan lined with parchment that stands above the rim).
Let rise again, uncovered, for 2-3 hours, until the dough reaches near the top of the mold. Score a shallow cross on top.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45-50 minutes, tenting with foil if the top browns too fast, until a skewer comes out clean.
Immediately skewer two long metal skewers through the base and suspend the panettone upside down between two tall pots or a cooling rack for at least 3 hours, so it does not collapse as it cools.
chef's tips
- Resting the baked panettone a full day before slicing lets the crumb settle, which is worth the wait.