For this weeks signature bake I’m in a bit of a quandary. I had decided to make panettone as it is something that both the boyfriend and I enjoy, so rather then make a random concoction from a selection of ideas I decided to go traditional and with something less risky. My quandary was whether panettone would be classed as a cake or and enriched dough? Either way, I decided to stick with it and look for a recipe.

After searching through the books I have on my shelf at home and not finding anything, it was time to turn to the infinite encyclopaedia that is the internet. As with most things there were lots of variations, I managed to narrow it down to two. One recipe came with the help of an ingredients kit, and other was recommend by a friends husband, who is a chef. The one with the kit required a starter, and seeing as I had been meaning to start one for a while I thought this would be a good option. Turns out I need over a week to get a good starter going, so the kit is going to have to wait. I just want it make it clear that I have not purchased a cake mix where you just add milk etc. This kit, from Bakerybits.co.uk,  is made up of the bare ingredients to make a panettone, including the paper cases, pearl sugar nibs and premium flour. I will be using it in the near future, but it will have to wait until after bake off.

Anyway with the starter method out of the window it’s onto the chefs suggestion. After doing a bit of digging I’ve found that the recipe is from an American magazine: Gourmet (Dec 2008) . I found a another blogger who had used the recipe and found it interesting to read about her adventures with the bake, and the comments from other people. With the recipe in hand it was time to dig out the measuring cups and start the long process that is needed to make panettone.

15 hours; no joke.
Reading the recipe carefully and more that twice to be sure that I had a) got a everything and b) understood it, I was still surprised about the length of time needed for the first prove. However further reading of other recipes of this sort confirmed that indeed the timings were correct, so I was in for a long bake! The start of the bake needs to happen at least 8 hours before the dough is even formed. The raisins need to be soaked in rum and hot water, so that they get fat and juicy for the dough

I’m using a less manual labour method for this challenge, the good ol’ Kenwood.  My Kenwood is at least 30 years old, so when it comes mixing anything it likes to travel a bit with the motion.  With this in mind, I have decided to put the mixer on the floor, so it can roam freely without falling over!   Beginning with the dry ingredients in the bowl they are left to mix with the dough hook while the eggs are mixed with the warm water and honey.

Once the separate ingredients have been mixed, they then needed to be combined until a dough is formed. Next it was time to add the less healthy element to the dough, 101/2 tablespoons of butter! Each spoon needed to be added separately, until completely combined.  This took a lot of time to do as the butter needed coaxing into the dough otherwise it just got spread around the bowl, by the dough on the hook! Eventually it was all combined and the dial turned up so that the speed was a little higher, and left to do it’s thing for 8 minutes. The speed dial on the my kenwood mixer is a bit naff.  It has the regular numbers 1-10 for the speed, with 10 meant to be the fastest, but mine goes goes 1-2 slow 3, medium, 4-10 slightly faster, louder and more mobile on the work surface!

When the time was up, the dough was extracted from the hook and the placed in a new clean bowl ready for the fruit to be mixed in with the obligatory wooden spoon!  The now plumb raisins were mixed with melted butter and the citrus peel before being tipped into the dough for a good stir. With everything fully combined the bowl was covered with the baking cap (complimentary hotel plastic shower cap) and placed in a cold oven overnight for a 15 hour prove. So I promptly tidied up, grabbed a glass of wine and put my feet up.

Morning after the night before…
It was with slight trepidation I went toward the oven the next morning. Hoping to see a well risen dough, triple the size it was the night before, I was greeted with the same size dough I had left in the bowl the night before! The only explanation I can give for this is the yeast.

The recipe called for dry active yeast so I had used the Allisons Dried Active Yeast. Why wouldn’t you use this, it’s almost exactly the same description isn’t it?  Time to do some research I think.  Turns out that the dried active yeast need to be activated with water and sugar before adding to the dry ingredients.  However Allisons Instant Dry Yeast /Doves Quick Yeast can be added to the dry ingredients and will activate within the dough when the wet ingredients are added.  With this science of yeast now explained I made the decision to start again.  The only problem was that because it takes so long to prove I would have to wait until the evening to start the process all over again! Grr, time to go shopping!

I won’t bore you with a repetition of the method again, but needless to say the same was done and the 15 hours commenced.

And….
Yes! The next morning I was greeted with a well risen dough! I was so happy that i did a little jig around the kitchen!  This now meant that I could get onto the next part, the second prove, this time 5 hours!  The dough had to be tipped out of the bowl and knocked back slightly, but not too much.  The edges were folded into the centre creating a ball which then had to be dropped carefully into the paper case, Carefully so as not to rip it.  My case was a little bigger than the one requested in the recipe, but I wasn’t too bothered by this, I was just happy I had found them!

As I said before the second prove needed 5 hours, covered with a damp cloth.  Seeing as I been careful not to tear the paper case, I wasn’t about to lay a damp cloth over it to soften it. Instead I put pint glasses around the side and rested cloth on top of these, which meant it was suspended over the case and dough without actually touching it.

Final stages
The second proof needed to be done at room temperature, but for the last hour or so I put it in front of the pre-heating oven to give it the extra boost.  When it had reached it optimum height I had to be brave and cut a cross in the top.  The last knob of butter needed to go in the middle of the cross, to help prevent a skin from forming.  I had decided to use the pearl sugar nibs from the earlier mentioned kit, just so it wasn’t a complete wasted purchase for this bake, plus it made it look pretty.  Next it was oven time, for about an hour….

Smells good but…
Armed with the cake testing metal skewer I tested the centre of the cake after the alloted time, only to be met with mix being visible at the bottom.  Odd as the outer edges were fine  and the top of the cake was certainly a little browner than I would have liked.  Deciding to leave it in the oven for a little longer I  covered it with foil hoped for better in 5-10 minute.

When I could eventually be sure that it was cooked all the way through, it was time to remove it and hang it upside down for cooling.  I used a Pandoro tin that I had received a previous delicious Italian cake in.  The reason for hanging the cake upside for cooling is so that the top doesn’t sink and the panettone retains it iconic dome shape.

As you can see from the pics, the panettone is a little more brown on the outside than it should be.  In truth, burnt! In hindsight I realise I didn’t account for the fan setting of my oven when converting the temperature from 370F.  This would also explain why the cake was wet in the middle for so long, but cooked on the outside. I hate making silly mistakes like this, especially when it smelt and tasted so good too!

I will be making this again, as I don’t want to be defeated by a technicality! I will do this recipe again, but also experiment the one with the sourdough starter, in the aim to find the best version of panettone. Plus next time I could do two smaller panettones, great for presents at Christmas me thinks!