Homemade Christmas Panettone

It's up to you.

15 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Prepare ingredients and fruits

   Weighing 450 g of strong bread flour or T45, 8 g of dry yeast, 100 g of sugar and 5 g of salt. Cut the 100 g of candied orange peel into small dice and prepare the 120 g of raisins. Cut 140 g of soft butter into cubes and keep separately the 10 g provided for the top. The dough butter must deform under the spatula without being melted.

2. Prepare milk, eggs and aromas

   Gentle the 150 ml of milk until about 30 °C. Break the 3 medium eggs one by one into a small bowl, remove any shell chips, then beat them with a fork to mix white and yolks. Wash and dry the untreated orange, then finely remove its orange zest avoiding the bitter white part. Prepare 1 teaspoon of vanilla and keep the aromas with the fruits.

3. Check the instructions for use of the yeast

   Read the indications of the dry yeast sachet. If it needs to be rehydrated, use some of the 150 ml of warm milk already measured and adhere to the indicated time; do not add milk. If it is intended for direct addition, simply mix it with flour. The milk should not be hot, as high heat would then prevent the dough from rising.

4. Mix the first crochet dough

   Pour the flour, yeast and sugar into the bowl of the robot equipped with the hook. Add milk, beaten eggs, then 5 g of salt. Spin at a small speed until the flour is fully moistened. Stop the robot and scrape the walls with a spatula if flour sticks to the edge; butter will be added later.

5. Knead before adding fat

   Continue kneading for about 10 minutes at slow or medium speed, following the limits of your robot. The dough must gather around the hook and gain elasticity, even if it remains sticky. Stop once to scrape the bottom and check that there is no dry flour left. Do not correct its flexibility by adding flour not provided in the recipe.

6. Add the butter three times.

   Add about a third of the 140 g of soft butter and lets the hook incorporate it. When the pieces are almost no longer visible, add the second third and then the last one in the same way. Continue to knead for a total of 10 to 15 minutes for this phase. The dough goes through an irregular appearance, then must become smooth, flexible and shiny again.

7. Check elasticity before fruits

   Stop the robot and take a small piece of dough between your fingers. Stretch it gently: it must be able to thin into a membrane before tearing, instead of breaking immediately into pieces. If it remains very brittle, knead for a few more minutes and check again. If the dough becomes frankly hot or oily, interrupt the kneading and let it cool off before resuming.

8. Spread the fruit and aromas

   Add the 120 g of raisins, the 100 g of candied orange, the zest taken and the teaspoon of vanilla. Mix at very slow speed for 1 to 2 minutes, just to distribute them without crushing them. Finish with the spatula if some fruit remains at the bottom of the bowl. Gather the dough into a mass and covers the bowl to keep its surface supple.

9. Let double the dough

   Let rise for about 2 hours in a room around 24 °C, away from drafts. Find the starting volume to follow the progress. The dough should almost double; a fresh kitchen or less active yeast may take longer. The actual swelling is the criterion to follow, not just the displayed duration.

10. Shapes a ball without tearing the dough

    Place the 1.5 kg paper pan into a baking sheet. Remove the dough from the bowl with a spatula, then press gently to remove the larger bubbles. Bring the edges back to the center to form a ball and flip it over to place the joint underneath. Place it in the middle of the mold; do not pierce the paper with a sharp utensil.

11. Wait for the second rise

    Cover without squeezing and let rise about 1 h 30 to 2 hours, until the top of the dough approaches 2 cm from the edge of the mold. Leave more time if necessary. Towards the end, preheat the oven to 170 °C, conventional oven setting (no fan), with an oven rack at the bottom and enough space above for the dome. Then move the plate gently so as not to drop the dough.

12. Incite and add butter from the top

    Remove the cover. With the tip of a small sharp knife, draw a shallow cross on top, without pressing to the bottom. Place the 10 g of butter reserved in the center of this cross. These 10 g are in addition to the 140 g already incorporated into the dough; butter should not be taken back in a quantity already used.

13. Cuis and measure the temperature at the heart

    Bake for 45 to 55 minutes at 170 °C. After about 25 minutes, if the dome is already well colored, cover it loosely with a sheet of baking paper. At about 45 minutes, insert a probe in the center of the brioche, without sticking it to the mold: aims at about 93 ° C. If the heart is less cooked, prolong in periods of 5 minutes by monitoring the color.

14. Cool before cutting

    Take out the plate with oven gloves, then place the panettone, still in its paper mold, on a stable wire rack. Let it cool for at least 2-3 hours, until the heart is cold. Do not pack it yet and do not cut it hot, because the crumb would be fragile. This yeast recipe gives a high brioche; it is not presented as a traditional panettone long fermented with leaven.

15. Cut parts without tamping the crumb

    Cleanly spread or cut the paper around the area you want to slice. Place the brioche on a board and use a bread knife in gentle back-and-forth movements. Hold the side with your hand without pressing the dome. Packs the rest once fully cooled to limit drying.