Il Panettone Milanese -- Milanese Panettone

From Cosa Bolle in Pentola, the Newsletter:
Never made a panettone and really want to try? Fernanda Gosetti does say how in Il Dolcissimo. "Before giving the recipe," she writes, "I'd like to give you some advice that's vital to the success of the panettone. As I've already said for other cakes, every chef follows a different recipe and swears by it. I've checked what I've collected with care, and the ingredients are the same; what changes are the proportions.

• "They all suggest working the dough, if possible, with mixer, because it's much easier and the dough reaches that just-ready state much faster. Just so you know, they say that the dough must be worked by hand for 50 minutes, or by machine for 20.
• "The dough has to be prepared well in advance, at least 6-7 hours, and because of this chefs usually combine the ingredients the night before, to have something workable in the morning.
• "The room where the panettone is made has to be warm, about 72 degrees F (22 C). The flour should also be warm, about 68 F (20 C); what's generally used is 00 grade (very fine all-purpose flour) and extremely dry (my note: you may want to dry your flour in an oven, as it absorbs moisture unless it's tightly sealed). The water used should be warm, about 76 F (24 C).
• "Don't forget a pinch of salt, because it stimulates rising; a little more salt will increase the rising while less will decrease it
• "If you want your panettone to stay soft longer, add a little glucose to the dough.
• "If you're in a hurry, don't replace wild yeast with baker's yeast because the latter isn't quite right.
• "The baking time will depend upon the size of the panettone. Assuming a temperature of 400 F (200 C), half an hour will be sufficient for small to medium-sized panettoni, whereas larger ones will require considerably more. As I've said before, home ovens are best suited to small-medium-sized cakes.
• "If you want the surface to be shiny, slip a bowl of water into the oven when the panettone is half cooked to raise the humidity.
• "You'll find, for sale, panettoni that are taller than they are broad. To obtain this effect at home, you'll have to put a ring of heavily buttered thick paper around the dough when you put it in the oven, or use a panettone mold. If you instead want a panettone that's wider than it is high, like a normal bread loaf, simply put it in the oven (my note: you'll need a pizza stone or similar to do this)
• "Everyone I've talked to says to tell you not to lose heart after the first, inevitable failures, because it's a difficult cake to make."

Having said all this, here we go.

For the first rising:

6 ounces (150 g) fresh yeast cake (or biga; ask your baker for this)

4 cups (400 g) flour

3/8 cup (90 g) unsalted butter

5/8 cup (110 g) sugar

6 yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (200 ml) slightly warm water

For the second rising:

2 3/4 cups (275 g) flour

5/8 cup (110 g) unsalted butter

1 pound (400 g) sultana raisins

13 ounces 9300 g) mixed candied orange and citrus peels

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 yolks

A little flour for dusting the work surface and mold

The afternoon before, begin by cutting the butter into a casserole and melting it over a very low flame or a double boiler; keep it warm enough to remain melted. Dissolve the sugar in about 3/8 cup (100 ml) of warm water.

Put the melted butter, salt, and yeast cake in a mixing bowl and mix well, then add the yolks and sugar, and sift in the flour, stirring energetically all the while. Should the dough be quite stiff add a little more water. Keep beating with great energy for about 25 minutes, throwing the dough against the sides of the bowl, until it has become smooth, velvety, and full of air bubbles. At this point put it in a lightly floured bowl large enough for it to triple in volume, cover it with a heavy cloth, and keep it in a warm (85 F, 30 C) place for about 10 hours.

In the meantime, wash the raisins, picking over them to remove sticks and whatnot, drain them well, and set them on a cloth to dry. Finely dice, but do not mince, the candied citrus peels.

When the dough is ready, turn it out on your work surface (or return it to the mixing bowl) and work in the flour, vanilla, and honey. Beet with considerable energy for about a half hour, then work in all but 2 tablespoons of the butter, which you will have melted as before, and the water, to which you will have added the salt. Continue working the dough until it becomes shiny and dry, and at this point add the fruit, working the dough to distribute it evenly. At this point you can divide the dough into pieces of the size you want; if you want to make your panettoni by weight, use a scale and figure that they'll decrease in weight by 10% during baking.

Lightly grease your hands with the butter and round the balls of dough, then put them on a board or plate and let them rise in a warm place for about a half hour. At this point lightly butter your hands again and put the panettoni in panettone molds (or put rings of stiff paler around their bases). Return them to their board and put them in a warm (68-80 F, 20-30 C, depending upon the season), humid spot to rise for about 6 hours.

Heat your oven to 380 F (190 C). Cut an x into the top of each panettone and put 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter over the cuts. Put the panettoni in the oven, and after 4 minutes remove them and quickly push down on the corners produced by the cuts. Return them to the oven and bake them until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out dry.

When chefs remove their panettoni from the oven they put them upside down in special panettone holders to keep their flanks from collapsing. In a home situation this is not practical, and you'll dimply have to cool your panettoni on a rack.

My Comment: It's easy to understand why Michele Franzan, who writes for Gola Gioconda, a Florentine food magazine, suggests that you buy your panettone from a first-rate baker. And a last note: Andrea writes, "I had been searching for a panettone that tasted like [my grandfather's] but never found one until I got a bread machine and a little book called "The Bread Machine Cookbook" by Donna German, put out by Nitty Gritty Books. The recipe for panettone tastes exactly like what my grandparents made. In addition to the traditional candied fruit and nuts and raisins it includes lemon rind. That must have been their secret ingredient. And it comes out perfect every time I make it." A little lemon rind will be a nice touch.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
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