Panettone

Don't Make These Mistakes

This is a two-day bake and a stand mixer is essential. Do not attempt the butter stage by hand.

Hang it upside down. A panettone left to cool the right way up collapses, every time.

It keeps far longer than an ordinary bread — a week wrapped is normal.

Cooking Panettone

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1. For the first dough, whisk the yeast and sugar into the milk, add the flour and yolks, and knead 6 minutes. Work in the butter and knead 6 more. Prove 2 hours until tripled.

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2. Add the second-dough flour, sugar, yolks, salt, vanilla and zests, and knead 10 minutes in a stand mixer.

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3. Add the butter a third at a time, kneading until each addition disappears. Continue until the dough passes the windowpane test — this takes 15 minutes and the dough will look broken partway. Keep going.

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4. Prove, covered, for 2 hours, then refrigerate overnight.

   Mark done Start 2 hr timer

5. Fold in the soaked raisins and candied peel by hand, distributing them evenly without tearing the dough.

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6. Shape into a tight ball and drop it into a 1 kg panettone case.

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7. Prove 4 to 6 hours at warm room temperature until the dough crests the rim of the case.

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8. Cut a cross in the top, set a knob of butter in the centre, and bake at 165°C / 330°F for 50 to 60 minutes until 94°C / 201°F at the centre.

   Mark done Start 50 min timer

9. Immediately skewer the base with two long metal skewers and hang the loaf upside down between two chairs. Leave it for at least 6 hours before turning it over.

   Mark done

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Why the Method Works

Hanging the loaf upside down as it cools is not a flourish: the crumb is so open and the dough so rich that a warm panettone left upright compresses under its own weight into a dense band at the base. The staged proves build enough gluten to carry that much butter, sugar and fruit.

After You've Cooked It

Keeps 1 week wrapped tightly at room temperature and freezes 2 months. Never refrigerate.

What to Serve Alongside

• A glass of Moscato d'Asti or Vin Santo
• Mascarpone cream
• Espresso

Still Wondering?

Panettone Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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