10/11/2010 - Panettone

Although it is not listed with the sourdough breads, panettone is made with a wild-yeast sponge of barm, milk, and flour. The formula calls for a cup each of golden raisins and a candied fruit blend, but PR notes that dried fruit may be substituted as well. I opted to make my own blend of dried apples, cranberries, and cherries to add with the raisins.

The day before baking, I made the wild-yeast sponge mentioned above and let it ferment at room temperature for four hours before refrigerating it overnight. I also combined my dried fruit and soaked it overnight with lemon and vanilla extracts and half a cup of white rum. Then next day, I mixed the dough. This is an enriched dough, with butter, egg, and sugar. It is partially mixed and then allowed to rest for 20 minutes so that the gluten can begin to develop before the butter and fruit mixture are added. During kneading, a cup of almonds are added as well. My dough rose slowly, as is normal for a dough rich in butter, and then I divided it into two balls and placed them in parchment lined cake pans. These proofed for two hours, and then were baked for an hour and a half at 325 - the lowest temperature at which I have ever baked bread.

I was excited to try this bread. I've never been a big fan a fruit bread, but lots of yummy things went into this and I just knew that it HAD to be better than fruit breads I have had before. But it turned out a lot like other fruit breads. I mean, it was good for a fruit bread, but it was definitely still in that category. We ate about half of one loaf and were kind of done. There is a grace note following this formula with instructions for making Holiday Bread Brûlé - basically fancy bread pudding, using panettone. I scooped out the insides of my loaves, mixed up the custard base, poured it over the scooped bread, and baked it at 325 for an hour. I skipped the part about letting it cool and then sprinkling it with sugar and caramelizing it under the broiler, but I'm sure that's lovely too. We ate it just plain, and it was very good. The best bread pudding I've ever had, in fact. J4 doesn't normally like "soggy bread dishes," but he liked this one, and J5 thought it was cake.