How Roy Shvartzapel is revolutionizing panettone
I think few on TFL will be surprised by this story;
"It’s the wild yeast that gives Shvartzapel’s panettone its deep flavor, height and five-week shelf life. The laborious 40-hour process starts with feeding the wild yeast with water and flour three times in half a day. After mixing the yeast with more flour, water, sugar, butter and egg yolk, the dough is proofed for 12 hours before going back into the mixer with more flour, water, sugar, salt, egg yolk and flavorings. After resting, it is divided into molds, then proofed again. Finally, the panettones are baked for an hour, then immediately suspended upside-down to cool overnight."
San Francisco Chronicle story is here [1].
Roy's website is here [2] and yes, that is $50 a pop and he's sold out...,
Wild-Yeast