Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe

All the flavor of traditional Panettone in a fast and easy recipe.

They hurried up to Main Street and one short block around the corner on Central past Reynaud’s with stacked French bread in the window and black-haired Mrs. Reynaud waved her flour-pale hand at them and they were home.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Every holiday season I have the best plans, things to make and places to go. I start in November and feel confident. I will finish my making and doing, I will not become anxious or stressed. Sound familiar? By mid-December its time to get real, there are only so many days left for all the doing. With Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe now is the time for all the baking.

Essentials

I’m here to shatter the myth of 32 hour Panettone with a fast, easy and very rewarding recipe. Fancy Panettone from a speciality bakery is fabulous but if you want something homemade, moist with lots of eggy goodness and fragrant with traditional Italian holiday spice this is the recipe to make. Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe can be made in smaller pans or containers, perfect for gift giving. Baking with active dry yeast is such a pleasure. Its almost fool-proof. With Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe there’s no floured surface to clean, just the mixer and proofing bowl. Your kitchen will smell of baking bread and holiday spice when making your own Panettone. A simple way to bring the holiday season home.

1. Liberally butter 2- 9”x5” loaf pans and a large mixing bowl.
2. Place the pine nuts in a saucepan over medium heat. Toast the pine nuts until they begin to turn golden brown. Cool and then roughly chop the pine nuts.
3. Melt the 1/2C/4oz butter in the microwave or on the stovetop. Warm the milk in the microwave or stovetop to finger-tip temperature or no more than 110°. Pour them both into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs, anise extract and active dry yeast. Attach the whisk attachment to the mixer and mix until the eggs are broken up and thoroughly incorporated. Stop once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. A few small clumps of yeast left in the bowl are fine.
4. Remove the whisk attachment and bowl from the stand mixer. Add the flour and salt to the bowl. Return the bowl to the stand mixer and add the bread dough hook. Mix on low speed to thoroughly combine the wet and dry ingredients. Stop to scrape down the side and bottom of the mixer bowl. Once all the flour is mixed in and the dough comes together turn the mixer to medium-low speed and mix for five minutes. As the dough mixes sprinkle the currants, candied orange peel and pine nuts into the rotating bowl. The dough will be moist and remain flat across the surface of the bowl. Transfer the dough to the buttered bowl and cover. Set in a warm place to proof, until almost doubled in size, for 1-1-1/2 hours.
5. Deflate the dough in the bowl by using a flexible bench scraper or large rubber scraper. Scrape the dough down from the outside edges of the bowl toward the center of the bowl, turning the bowl as part of the process, making sure all the dough has been deflated. Then scrape half of the dough into each buttered loaf pan. Smooth out the dough with a flexible bench scraper or your hands lightly moistened with water. Make sure that the loaves are of even size and thickness by pushing the dough into the corners and edges of the loaf pans.
6. Heat the oven to 350° while the dough proofs. Let proof for thirty to forty-five minutes. When ready to bake, the dough will reach the rim of the loaf pan and have a slightly domed top.
7. Place both of the loaf pans in the center of the oven with at least an inch between them. Bake the loaves for 25 to 30 minutes. If using smaller baking containers, check the bread after 20 minutes. When done, the Panettone, the Fast and Easy Recipe will have a toasty brown top crust, sound hollow when tapped and the internal temperature of the bread will be at least 190°. Let cool ten minutes and then loosen the loaves from the pan with a table knife or small off-set spatula. Turn out on a cooling rack to finish cooling. For perfect, almost crumb free slices wait until the Panettone has cooled completely to slice.