Biggie’s Crown Panettone

It's up to you.

15 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Prepare fruits, eggs and weighs

   Weighing 450 g of strong bread flour or T45, 8 g of dry yeast, 100 g of sugar and 5 g of salt. Cut 140 g of soft butter into cubes for the dough and keep the 10 g of butter from the top apart. Cut the 100 g of candied orange peel into small dice. Wash and dry the untreated orange, then graze only the colored part of its skin; also prepare the 120 g of raisins and the vanilla teaspoon.

2. Tie the milk and break the three eggs

   Measure 150 ml of milk and heat it to about 30 °C in a small saucepan, without boiling it. Break the 3 medium-sized eggs one by one into a small bowl, check for any shell, and then beat them with a fork for 30 seconds. Prepare the robot with its hook. If your yeast requires rehydration, follow the instructions with some of the milk already measured, without increasing the 150 ml.

3. Knead a first dough for ten minutes

   Pour flour, yeast, sugar and salt into the bowl of the robot and briefly mix the dry ingredients. Add warm milk and beaten eggs. Rotate at low speed for 2 minutes to collect the dough, then continue for about 8 minutes at slow to medium speed. Scrape the bowl if necessary; the dough must become more homogeneous and begin to stretch when the hook raises it.

4. Stir in butter three times

   Mentally divide the 140 g of butter into three servings and add the first while the robot spins slowly. Wait until it is incorporated before adding the next one, then the last one. Knead for another 10 to 15 minutes in total, stopping once to scrape the walls. The paste must become shiny and elastic; a small portion gently stretched between the fingers forms a thin membrane before tearing. It remains sticky: does not correct its texture by pouring additional flour.

5. Add the fruit without tearing the dough

   Add the 120 g of raisins, the 100 g of candied orange, the zest of orange and the teaspoon of vanilla. Crochet mixture at minimum speed for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the fruits are distributed. Stop as soon as it is done so as not to crush the fruit. With a spatula, return the pieces left at the bottom to the dough and form a regular mass.

6. Double the volume

   Cover the bowl with a clean cloth or lid and place it in a temperate place, around 24 °C, without air current. Let rise for about 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in volume. Take a picture of the starting level or mark it on the bowl for easy comparison. If the room is cooler, wait for the doubling rather than following the hour to the nearest minute.

7. Form a ball and fill the paper mold

   Lay the 1.5 kg panettone paper mold on a baking tray; it will remain on this baking tray while growing and cooking. Gently press on the dough to chase the biggest bubbles, then bring its edges back to the center with a spatula. Turn it over to place the folds underneath and get a rounded top. Place this ball in the mold, in the center, without adding butter to the paper and without tamping the fruit.

8. Let the dough approach the edge

   Cover without squeezing and let rise 1 h 30 to 2 hours at mild temperature. The dough should rise up to about 2 cm from the edge of the mold; in a mold of different format, especially monitors the swelling and does not wait for it to overflow. Towards the end of this shoot, preheat the oven to 170 °C in conventional oven setting (no fan) and place the oven rack in the bottom third. Then move the plate slowly so that the dome does not fall.

9. Grind and lay the butter from the top

   Remove the protection from the mold. With a fine sharp blade, draw a shallow cross on the top, without cutting the entire thickness of the dough or pressing on it. Drop the 10 g of butter reserved for the center of the cross. Immediately bake the baking tray in the hot oven; do not stir the paper mold at this point.

10. Cook and control the center at the probe

    Leave to cook 45 to 55 minutes. After about 25 minutes, if the dome is already golden, cover with baking paper to slow browning, keeping the paper clear of the heating element. From 45 minutes, push the probe into the central part of the brioche, without touching the plate. It should indicate about 93 ° C; if the heart is colder, extend in increments of 5 minutes by monitoring the color.

11. Cool the brioche before decorating

    Take out the plate with oven gloves and place the panettone, always in his paper, on a wire rack. Let it cool for at least 2 hours, more if it stays lukewarm in the center. Do not remove the paper and do not cut the brioche while it is hot: its crumb would end up stabilizing by crashing. This yeast recipe gives a brioche; it does not claim to reproduce a dough long fermented with leaven.

12. Preparing the template of a flat crown

    Draws on a sheet a crown 20 cm wide and 6 cm high, with a straight base and three large tips quite wide. Slide this drawing under baking paper on a flat tray. Check that the crown can rest on the dish at the foot of the panettone, without being suspended. It will not be bent around the brioche: it is a simple plate placed in front of the flank.

13. Casting the white chocolate crown

    Chop the 100 g of white chocolate with a knife and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan and simmer gently, then lower the heat. Place the bowl above: its bottom should not touch the water. Stir with a spatula until only a few small pieces remain. Remove the bowl from the heat and keep stirring so the residual heat melts them. Wipe the bottom of the bowl; no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Keep about 10 g of white chocolate in a small bowl for pasting. Spread part of the rest inside the template, about 3 mm thick, filling the three tips without making them too thin. Smooth with the back of a spoon and let stand for 30 minutes flat; keep unused chocolate in pellets on paper rather than thicken the crown.

14. Add the three black jewels

    Chop the 40 g of dark chocolate with a knife and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan and simmer gently, then lower the heat. Place the bowl above: its bottom should not touch the water. Stir with a spatula until only a few small pieces remain. Remove the bowl from the heat and keep stirring so the residual heat melts them. Wipe the bottom of the bowl; no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. On the firm white crown, place three large dots of dark chocolate, one under each tip, using a small spoon or cornet. Keep points flat and simple. Let it take another 20 minutes, then take off the crown by bending the paper under it while supporting it; harden the remains of black apart for another recipe.

15. Install the crown at the foot of the brioche

    Remove or lowers the paper from the panettone only in the area necessary for the chocolate to touch the cold brioche. Lay the crown on the dish, its base fully supported, and press its back against the bottom of the flank with a few points of the reserved 10 g of white chocolate, briefly remelted if necessary. Hold it for a few moments without bending it, then let it take 20 minutes. Before cutting the shares, gently remove the crown and divide it separately so as not to break it randomly.