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Panettone- the quest continues!

amazonium's picture
amazonium

Panettone- the quest continues!

Okay, so maybe I am a little OCD when it comes to baking. I am trying ANOTHER recipe for panettone. This one is from King Arthur's website and with a little tweaking that I did it looks promising. Actually it is baking as I type, and yes, I am at work- slow day...The recipe is made with a biga, which should give lots of depth of flavor. I made the biga yesterday and got up at 5 this morning to make the final dough. I added 8 oz. of butter instead of the 4 oz. that the recipe uses. Why? Because I am just coming off a brioche binge- lol. Seriously, I know the butter will add flavor and tenderness. The recipe says to add the butter at the beginning but I made sure I had good gluten formation before I slowly added the butter, letting each piece be totally worked in before adding more. The result? A glossy, silky beautiful dough that is rising like crazy in the oven! And it looks like the recipe makes a dough that is the perfect size for the panettone papers I have- woohoo! Also, I used the SAF Gold yeast and I think that made a difference as well. This is my first experience using it. I was worried that perhaps my overly-drunken homemade fruit mixture might affect the dough in a negative way- nope, apparently the dough loves it. So in 30 or so minutes I will know how the outside looks. I will try to get my camera from home and take pics before the loaf gets decimated.

Amaz the Happy Baker!

 http://hippolytacancook.blogspot.com/

amazonium's picture
amazonium

Here are the pictures I promised. Somehow I forgot to use the trick of letting it cool upside down (which I did last time to much laughter from my co-workers!) so as it cooled it wasn't quite as happy-looking as it was fresh from the oven. Still, as you can see from the last picture, there were no complaints coming from full mouths...And as you can see I didn't do a great job of forming the loaf. Honestly I was just anxious to get it into the oven and see how it tasted. Next time I will be more careful.

Amaz

 http://www.hippolytacancook.blogspot.com/

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Looks picture perfect. So the only change you made was the extra butter?

Did you use the Fiori di Sicilia? What about the drunken fruit. Did it affect hydration?

 

amazonium's picture
amazonium

Yes, the extra butter and I cut back on the amount of fruit since mine was VERY well hydrated. I did let the fruit drain to remove as many juices as possible- which apparently worked. Yes, I used the fiori- love that stuff! The dough was just rising in the kitchen at work and the whole clinic was filled with the aroma! On my lunch break I made a batch of marshmallows ( I keep my spare KA mixer at work so I can make just about anything there) so my daughter can use them on her fresh sweet potato caasserole on Thursday. They really are wonderful things- nothing at all like the ones from a bag. Panettone and marshmallows all in one day- plus working 8 hours- it's been quite a day!

Amaz

http://www.hippolytacancook.blogspot.com/

 

rolls's picture
rolls

your pannetone looks wonderful. ive had pannetone on the mind lately  but am finding it hard to choose which recipe. i have carol field's italian baker and was thinking of trying that  but also tempted to try no knead there's jim lahey or artisanbread in five recipe. what do you think. i love your texture on the pannetone was it simple to do, im usually put off by natural starters as i don't hav one and not familiar with calculating/adjusting hydration etc technical stuff.

thanks

amazonium's picture
amazonium

I realize that authentic panettone starts with a natural starter but my first attempt was a 3-day marathon. Yes, it was yummy, but so was this recipe. Very simple to make- straight forward and no tricky parts. You could actually make it in one day if you made your biga before the sun rose. Because I doubled the butter I think it was probably a bit more tender and tasty. Like I said, I had just been making brioche and I wasn't afraid to try more butter. I didn't have to adjust the hydration at all. I suggest you try this one.

Amaz.

http://www.hippolytacancook.blogspot.com/

 

 

rolls's picture
rolls

thanks i think i will so you just doubled the butter? but i think you mentioned you didn't add it in the  begginning like they said. i have a kitchenaid i'l just use that. anything else i should do differently?  i don;t mind preparing the night before.

rolls's picture
rolls

so is this THE pannetone recipe for you?