Giant Mushroom Panettone

It's up to you.

19 detailed steps from preparation to service.

1. Prepare butter and fruit

   Cut the 140 g of butter from the dough into small dice and let them soften: they must crush under the finger without being melted. Keep separate the 10 g of butter destined for the top. Weigh 120 g of raisins and 100 g of candied orange peels; cuts the peels into 5 mm cubes to distribute them in the crumb.

2. Take the zest and prepare the eggs

   Wash and dry the untreated orange. Only grate its colored skin over a cup, without the bitter white part, then reserve the zest. Break the 3 medium eggs one by one in a small bowl, check that no shell has fallen and mix them with a fork; also prepare 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

3. Prepare milk and yeast

   Measure the 150 ml of milk and warm it up to 30 °C, without making it hot. Read the instructions for 8 g of dry yeast: if rehydration is necessary, do it with part of this milk, taken from the 150 ml. No additional milk is added to the recipe.

4. Mix the first ingredients

   Put 450 g of force flour or T45 and 100 g of sugar in the vat of the robot equipped with the hook. Add the beaten eggs, the milk and the yeast prepared according to its instructions, then the 5 g of salt on the side before mixing. Spin at a small speed to collect the dough and scrape once the bottom if flour remains stuck.

5. Knead the dough before the butter

   Kneaded about 10 minutes at slow to medium speed. The paste should begin to become smooth and elastic, even if it still sticks to the bottom of the tank. By hand, works in a large bowl by lifting and folding the dough regularly; takes more time and avoids adding flour to make it artificially dry.

6. Add the butter three times

   Divide 140 g of soft butter into three servings. Incorporate the first into the hook, wait until it disappears in the dough and then add the following in the same way. Knead for another 10 to 15 minutes: the dough must regain hold and stretch into a flexible membrane when you gently pull a small piece, without tearing immediately.

7. Incorporating fruits and fragrances

   Pour the 120 g of raisins, the 100 g of candied orange, the reserved zest and the vanilla teaspoon into the dough. Mix at the slowest speed for 1 to 2 minutes, just to distribute the inclusions. Scrape the fruits left at the bottom and fold the dough on it, without continuing to beat for a long time after their incorporation.

8. Leave for the first rise

   Gather the dough into a large bowl and cover it to keep the surface supple. Let rise about 2 hours in a room around 24 °C, away from drafts. The dough should roughly double in volume; if it moves slowly, prolongs the rest rather than putting it in a hot oven.

9. Fold and form the ball

   Gently press the center of the raised dough to evacuate some of the air, then bring its edges back to the middle. Turn it over to put the folds underneath and round it with your hands. Place a 1.5 kg paper panettone mold on a plate and place the ball in it, soldered underneath, without greasing the paper.

10. Let rise up to two centimeters from the edge

    Cover the mold slightly and leaves to rise 1 h 30 to 2 hours. The top of the dough should arrive at about 2 cm from the edge of the mold; the time depends on the temperature of the room. Towards the end of the rise, turn on the oven at 170 °C in conventional oven setting (no fan) and place an oven rack in its lower part.

11. Cut the top and add the reserved butter

    Remove the cover from the mold. With a small sharp knife, very delicately traces a shallow cross on the top, without pressing to the point of deflating the dough. Place the 10 g of butter reserved in the center of this cross; they are distinct from the 140 g already incorporated in the dough.

12. Cook and check the temperature at heart

    Bake the baking tray for 45 to 55 minutes. After about 25 minutes, cover the top of a sheet of baking paper if it is already well colored. From 45 minutes, push a probe into the center of the brioche, without touching the plate: aims at about 93 ° C and extends for a few minutes if necessary; the center must not remain pasty.

13. Cool completely in the mold

    Take out the plate with oven gloves and place the panettone, always in its paper mold, on a wire rack. Allow it to cool completely for at least 1 h 30, more if the center remains warm. Do not remove the paper or cut the hot brioche: the crumb would tear and the chocolatey decor would melt on contact.

14. Remove the paper and locate the foot

    Take off the paper from the completely cold panettone and place it straight on a board. Find the dome that will form the hat and the cylindrical part below. Measure the available width: the finished foot must keep at least 12 cm in diameter so that the fungus remains stable, directly placed on its base.

15. Cut a wide foot under the dome

    With a bread knife, remove thin strips of brioche on the sides under the dome, about 1.5 cm deep all around. Gradually turns the cake and keeps the foot centered; do not dig under the hat to the point of weakening it. Place all the offcuts in a cup and keep a very horizontal base, without adding support.

16. Napper the milk chocolate hat

    Chop the 130 g of milk chocolate and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan, heat until it simmers and then lower the heat. Set the bowl over the pan without letting it touch the water. Stir with a spatula and remove as soon as the last pieces melt. Wipe the bottom of the bowl: no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Transfer the mushroom to its dish, leave the chocolate to cool down and spread it only on the dome with a spoon or a small spatula. Spread the 130 g in a regular layer; the foot remains naked and shows the crumb of the brioche.

17. Let go before the white spots

    Let milk chocolate firm for about 20 minutes in a cool room. It should no longer flow when you touch the edge very lightly with a spatula. Prepare a clean and dry second bowl for white chocolate, so that the dots remain clear and do not mix with a still liquid cover.

18. Draw the six big dots of the hat

    Chop the 60 g of white chocolate and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan, heat until it simmers and then lower the heat. Set the bowl over the pan without letting it touch the water. Stir with a spatula and remove as soon as the last pieces melt. Wipe the bottom of the bowl: no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Leave to cool down and then place six small spoonfuls on the hat, spaced from each other. Spread each round irregularly with the back of the spoon, in a thin layer; keeps large areas of milk chocolate visible between them. The 60 g makes it easy to work in the bowl: harden the surplus into small pallets on baking paper to serve them with the parts, without thickening the six patterns.

19. Allow to be taken and served

    Let the white dots take another 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Cut the mushroom with a bread knife, supporting the parts on the dish so as not to break the hat; also serve the offcuts. The brioche remains in one piece, with a wide foot, without high assembly or hidden element to make it fit.