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 [1] 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!