Sformato di Panettone: Panettone is Milano's traditional Christmas bread, an airy concoction made with raisins and candied fruit that every pastry shop proudly displays. They're also made by industry, in huge numbers, and consequently appear on almost every Christmas table throughout the peninsula. They're very nice just sliced, but one can do other things with them. For example, stuff them, or transform them into sformato.
To serve 8 you'll need:
To serve 8 you'll need:
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 10 ounces (250 g) panettone
- 2 cups (200 g) potato starch (in American supermarkets this is often placed among the Jewish ingredients)
- 5 eggs
- 1/4 cup granular sugar
- 6 ounces (150 g) white chocolate
- 3/4 cup (150 g) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons brandy
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Powdered sugar
- Butter for the mold
- Red and white currants.
Preparation:
Begin by crumbling the panettone, keeping a couple of larger pieces to serve as garnish. If the panettone is a few days you'll be able to crumble by hand; if it is instead freshly baked it will be elastic, and it will be easier to cube it with a serrated bread knife.Beat the eggs and the sugar until the mixture becomes white and frothy. Cut the butter and chocolate into bits and melt them together over a double boiler.
Sift the potato starch with the baking powder.
Remove the butter-and-chocolate mixture and let it cool slightly, then slowly stir it into the egg mixture, adding a little bit at a time. Fold in the potato starch into the butter mixture, together with the brandy and vanilla, working until the mixture is homogenous, and then fold in the crumbled panettone.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
Butter a high-sided 6-8 inch diameter mold and line it with oven paper that you've moistened and squeezed dry. Pour the mixture into the mold, smooth the surface with a spatula, and lay the reserved panettone pieces over it all. Bake the sformato for 45 minutes, then let it cool, unmold it, and remove the oven paper. Dust it with powdered sugar, garnish it with currants, and serve it.
