Explore the magic of a festive classic with our sourdough twist on the beloved Italian panettone! This sweet bread, traditionally savoured during the holiday season, takes on a new dimension with the natural fermentation of sourdough.
Our recipe promises a tall, dome-shaped delight with a lusciously buttery taste, adorned with candied fruits, raisins, and sultanas. Create this fluffy, sourdough-infused masterpiece that's perfect for gifting during the holidays. Pair it with your favourite coffee, tea, or sweet wines.
The best part about this recipe? Unlike other Sourdough Panettone recipes, this can be achieved in less than 24 hours!
What You'll Need:
- A Panettone mold (available on amazon, or some kitchen/baking stores)
- Mixing Bowl
- Kitchen Scales
- Spatula
Ingredients:
Levain
- 50 g sourdough starter 100% hydration
- 50 g bread flour
- 50 g water
Dough
- 450 g bread flour
- 4 eggs
- 150 g levain
- 60 g full cream milk
- 30 g sugar
- 15 g salt
- 250g unsalted butter
Additions
- 50 g raisins
- 50 g sultanas
- 100 g candied mixed peel
- 1/4 cup brandy (or orange juice for an alcohol free alternative)
Method:
The night before you wish to bake, mix your levain using 50g sourdough starter, 50g water and 50g flour. Leave to rise overnight until doubled in size.
The next morning, begin to mix your dough. Add 450g bread flour to a bowl, make a well in the centre and add 150g levain, 4 eggs, 30g sugar, 15g salt and 60g full cream milk. Whisk wet ingredients with a fork and slowly incorporate the flour. When it becomes difficult to combine, put the dough on the kitchen counter and knead it until it comes together.
Pop the dough back in the bowl and let rest for 30 minutes under a damp dishtowel or covered in cling wrap.
Then prepare your fillings. In a small bowl, combine raisins and sultanas. Cover with 1/4 cup brandy, cointreau or liquor of choice (or orange juice if alcohol free) and top with hot water until covered. Leave to soak until needed.
Perform 4 sets of 'stretch and folds' with your dough, spaced out every 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove butter from the fridge, cut into cubes and allow to come to room temperature.
After the 4 stretch and folds have been done, let dough rest for another 30 minutes then begin adding in the butter.
Flatten your dough out onto the kitchen counter and add in 2 cubes of butter at a time, push it and massage it into the dough. Keep going until you cannot feel any lumps anymore. Then add another 2 cubes. Repeat until you have added all the butter. You will need to continue flouring your surface and dough during this time as the dough will get extremely sticky and hard to manage. Flour and knead until the dough just comes together, it should be just a little tacky.
Drain the fruit and pat dry on a paper towel.
Tease the dough out into a rectangle shape and evenly cover the surface with half the raisin/sultana mix and 1/2 the mixed peel. Fold the top of the rectangle down halfway, then the bottom up to meet it.
Fill the top surface with the remaining fruit and peel, then fold in each side. Knead on kitchen bench until the fruit feels evenly dispersed.
Shape into a boule and place into your panettone mold. Cover with cling wrap and let proof until it has risen almost to the top of the mold. This may take quite some time depending on the temperature of your environment, just be patient, it will rise.
Preheat oven to 180ºC, make an egg wash by whisking egg and 1tbsp milk together. Lightly brush the top of the panettone with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. I like to use a mix of caster sugar and demerara for some texture
Bake in oven for a total of 90 minutes. At the 30 min mark, check on the panettone and if top is going brown, cover with foil for the remaining time.
Once cooked, the internal temperature should read approx 98ºC.
Once the panettone is out of the oven, stick wooden or metal skewers through the panettone on each side, about 2½ cm from the bottom, and hang it upside down until completely cooled. This process prevents the panettone top from caving in during cooling. I find hanging the panettone by the edges of a saucepan is the easiest position for this.
Enjoy! Gift your beautiful panettone or enjoy with loved ones over a coffee or sweet wine. Or even toasted with a good spread of butter.
Happy Baking!