Panettone with raisins

Panettone is probably the most difficult bun out there,

many times I had looked for recipes and I always didn't dare to make it because on top of its difficulty, you need the right flour, yeast, special mold, etc.! But this year I dared!

It took several tries to come up with the recipe and, of course, I will keep searching for more. But at least now I make a delicious and very fluffy panettone!

In Italy they use a luxury flour (Manitoba) with a high percentage of gluten, since this bun is so heavy that it needs very strong flour to rise and stay fluffy.

In Greece it is not very easy to find it but we can make it! Yes, you read that right! We can use flour for brioche and add gluten powder (sold in the organic products aisle) to achieve a flour with 15% gluten!!

Below I leave you the table that shows us how much gluten we need to add to achieve the percentage we are interested in according to the gluten percentage of our flour.

I have found the table in the web site  The chef syndicate

Sourdough is very important for the puffiness of the panettone but also for its taste! Normally people use solid sourdough, but I only had the classic sourdough (which is like a thick batter) and it turned out great! It's relatively easy to make and there are plenty of videos online that we can consult! For anyone who lives in my area I can give the sourdough to them!

It will need to be fed 4-8 hours before we use it, to rise and activate.

Also, the panettone mold is a bit special, but more and more shops are starting to sell them in many sizes!!

This recipe requires a large mixer to activate the gluten.

The eggs will need to be cold from the fridge and the butter unfrozen but not completely. The reason for wanting the eggs cold and the butter cool is that with too much kneading, the mixer and the dough will get very hot and there is a risk of burning the sourdough. In this way we "cool" the dough.

It takes practice! Don't expect it to be perfect the first time, but don't give up! It is possible! Just follow the instructions! All the steps and times are important not only for the puffiness but also for the aroma!

Good luck!!

Ingredients for first dough

190g flour for brioche with 15% gluten

1 teaspoon dry yeast

290g active sourdough 

80g sugar

152g egg (from the fridge)

75g butter (almost cool)

Ingredients for the 2nd dough

The previous dough

400g flour for brioche with 15% gluten

1 teaspoon dry yeast

Zest from 2 oranges

190g of sugar

80g egg (from the fridge)

100g egg yolk (from the fridge)

60g honey

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

12g salt

150g butter (almost cool)

130g candied orange or any citrus fruit in general

200g sultana raisins

20g of rum

20g Cointreau

15g of water

11:00 in the morning we feed the yeast for it to rise. I usually put 60g of sourdough, 94g of water and 140g of flour (from what we will use in the recipe) in a jar. Mix until you get a thick batter and close with the lid. Leave the jar at room temperature until it triples in size. We will need about 7-8 hours depending on the temperature of our kitchen. We can put it in the oven which we have preheated to 30°C and turned off. In this case we will need about 4 hours.

18:30

In the bowl of the mixer, place the flour, the risen sourdough and the yeast. We start kneading with the hook at low speed because the flour could be tossed away.

Gradually add the egg and the sugar. Continue kneading at medium speed for 7 minutes to activate the gluten.

Add the butter in small amounts at a time waiting for it to be completely absorbed before adding the next.

Knead for another 7 minutes.

Transfer this runny dough to a large bowl and leave to rise and triple in size for 12 hours.

In a bowl, mix the raisins with the rum, Cointreau and water. Let the raisins swell for 12 hours, stirring occasionally.

7:00 second dough

In the bowl of the mixer, place: 400g of flour, the yeast, the zest, the previous dough, the vanilla and the eggs. Carefully mix with the hook at low speed because the flour will fly out of the bowl. Add the yolks one by one and add the sugar in small amounts in between. Finally, add the honey and continue kneading at medium speed for 8 minutes. I had to hold the top of the mixer higher because otherwise the dough stuck onto the hook towards the machine. We then do the gluten mesh test: with our hands we open the dough, and it should open almost without tearing into a very thin "sheet". If this is not possible, continue kneading for a while longer.

Add the salt and knead for 1'.

At medium speed, add the butter in small amounts at a time, waiting for it to be completely absorbed before adding the next.

Add the candied fruit. Knead for 1'.

Transfer to a buttered bowl. Add the raisins and fold the dough so that the raisins go everywhere. Cover with cling film and let the dough rest in a warm place for 1 hour.

The dough should be about 2 kilos.

We divide the dough into pieces according to our molds. I have half-kilo molds so I divided the dough into 4 pieces.

Fold the dough inward and place in the forms. Cover with film and place in our preheated oven for 8 to 10 hours or until it rises almost to the highest point of the mold. From time to time we turn on our oven to 30°C and turn it off again.

Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar pearls or powdered sugar if desired.

Bake at 170°C for about 25'.

As soon as we take the panettone out of the oven, put two straws through their base and hang them upside down so they don't deflate. Let them cool for 12 hours.

Good luck!!