The Fresh Loaf

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A Tip for Home Panettone/Colomba Bakers

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

A Tip for Home Panettone/Colomba Bakers

Panettone season is starting up again --- exciting, huh? I know some people bake it year-round, but I think my last one this year was last January and one colomba in the spring. It's a multi-day project, so for me, I need to be able to shoehorn it into my schedule and this year it didn't happen. But this week that finally changed and I tried something new that worked so well I thought I should share.

I saw this panettone baking tray some months back and was intrigued by how it would make flipping the loaves so much quicker and less precarious, not to mention, all loaves at once. The tray would fit in my oven, but unfortunately, not my proofer (or my price point). But I wasn't ready to give up on the concept so I took a tour around my kitchen to see what could serve the same function.

I spied this layer cake cooling rack and thought, upside-down, the feet should hold the skewers nicely. It does!

There are no cross braces to interrupt the flat surface of what is actually the underside of the rack, and the skewers fit perfectly through the feet and over the rim. This was very secure, but I didn't really want to use the basso form this time, and I am out of 1K altos right now. The 750g alto is a little too small for this skewer spacing (although I have since figured out how to support it across the middle -- no matter, moving on).

The location of feet and crossbar on this longer rack made it unsuitable to use the feet as in the previous one, but then I thought of these metal binder clips. What a perfect solution! And this rack fits inside the B&T proofer. You could even use the rack that comes with the proofer for this.

Binder clips and cooling racks are oven safe and what a joy it was to pick this up with gloved hands and securely turn it over as it was coming out of the oven. Two chairs back-to-back complete the hanging frame.

But here's the aha --- you could clip your pre-skewered forms to the rack after they come out of the proofer, so you can use any rack that fits in your oven. It doesn't have to be limited to what fits in the proofer. If your rack is a small grid like my large cooling racks are (i.e., the clips don't fit), you could use metal twist-ties to secure the skewers to the rack and fit as many forms on as you have space for. Or even use a perforated sheet pan. A lot of flexibility here, and cooling racks can be set in or on a sheet pan if you need to shield the bottoms.

Happy Baking!
dw 

Comments

gavinc's picture
gavinc

Brilliant. Nice improvisation. I've never baked a panettone but have tasted some from my Italian Neighbour. Not sure if it was homemade for bought, but I found it very dry. 

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

And thank you. When fresh, panettone should be soft and moist, but like cake, it's easy to over-bake because the temperature shoots up so fast at the end. It's also very prone to shrinking like a souffle as you're getting it from oven to upside-down when taking out less than overbaked. And like cake or bread, it will dry as the days pass, so even mail-ordering good panettone from a great bakery is no guarantee (overnight shipping is prohibitively expensive). Fortunately, if that happens, panettone can be repurposed into something else. I hope you get to experience a good one one day :)

Benito's picture
Benito

Ingenious Debra, thanks for sharing this.  I haven't yet attempted to make panettone.  Last year I bought the forms so got a step closer, but never dove in.

Benny

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

And you don't have to jump into the deep end with lievito madre if that seems too daunting. I started with just my regular sourdough starter and have never looked back.

TheBreadMaster's picture
TheBreadMaster

It's so simple and brilliant! I'm definitely going to use this!

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

It sure has simplified things for me :)

Enjoy!
dw

SueVT's picture
SueVT

Very innovative! I especially like the round cake cooling rack - baking it on the rack would allow you to turn the loaf easily in the oven for even baking. I use low removable bottom tart pans under the paper pans for that reason. 

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

I do the same except with just the bottom of one of my springform pans. I have 7", 8", 9" and 10" pans. There is always one in the right size. And I too really like the round rack, so here's my solution to add support if the feet are too far apart for smaller forms. Use the feet for the main support beams with smaller skewers across to support the middle. One or two should do for rounds, maybe three for large doves. But make sure they slide underneath so that they are held up by the others when turned upside-down.