I recently made a sourdough challah and it turns out that the challah wasn't sour at all. The recent discussions about sugar reducing the acidity of sweet levain made me think that the same thing was happening with this sweet enriched dough. This is making me question why even make sweet enriched dough with sourdough to begin with. Most popular enriched breads like croissants and brioche uses commercial yeast over sourdough. The one exception seems to be the Italian panettone, which traditionally uses pasta madre to leaven the bread. Unfortunately I have never gotten the chance to try a panettone. For those of you who have made it before, does using sourdough actually make a noticeable difference, and does a pasta madre make a big difference from a regular 100% hydration starter or a sweet stiff levain? I really hope this bread, which is considered a milestone for sourdough bakers, is actually worth the effort.
You said
If you're not eagerly anticipating the journey of learning, then the answer is most definitely no. Italians buy their pannetone. My grocery stores are packed with them.
I can't see how something can even be a baking milestone if you don't embrace the journey of getting there. It's like asking if doing a half marathon is "worth it" rather than just driving the 21k in a car.
There are lots of yeast pannetone recipes thru google. Lots of tips as well about addressing sourness of doughs.
You decide what's worthwhile to you. I can't see how there can possibly be an objective answer.
I'm not asking for an objective answer. I am asking if using sourdough makes a difference in taste, as my experience with other enriched dough is that the difference is none or minimal.
You are asking several questions and though they are seemingly simple, they are not. As to the question,"Is it worth it?", only you can answer that. What yardstick are you measuring that against? Learning curve? Time? Cost? Willingness?
Let me offer a really simple answer to the simplest question: IMO, using a levitra madre is essential to get not only the taste but the proper texture of an authentic panettone- because the texture is as important as the taste.I think commercial yeast will get you to a good panettone but I don't know if it will get you to an authentic panettone. Kind of like butter and margarine. Both make good baked product but you sure can tell which is made with butter.
CAn a "good enough" panettone be made using commercial yeast? Of course it can-you decide the standard; but someone else may have a different standard. And that is just fine.
Get rid of the notion that "sourdough" is sour. It is a misnomer. It is merely a natural leaven and for centuries it was the only game in town so it was used to make ALL manner of bread-savory and sweet. It is a bit more difficult to learn how to work with and sometimes failed catastrophically. The family where this happened usually just borrowed some from a neighbor to get it going again. IMO, natural leaven offers tastier fermentation by-products for all breads. It makes delicious sweet breads and can be maintained/developed to make a really sour bread, if that is what you want.
Panettone is tricky because you are trying to control an OVERfermentation process, as I see it. A very strong flour is used, creating a really tough dough. THen a very tightly controlled fermentation is used so that the high number of gluten bonds deteriorates in such a way that there is still a supporting structure and enough broken bonds to provide a feathery crumb. It melts in the mouth. A few degrees too warm, levitra madre too weak or too strong and the process goes awry. It all hinges on the leaven-good yeast/lacto balance, good yeast/lacto population, proper acid balance.
There are a LOT of panettone posts here from years past. There have not been many this year-just an "off" year for making panettone. Perhaps bakers are looking for less stressful recipes this year.
Bake some delicious fun!