panettone

PJ Hamel’s overnight panettone is an enriched Italian holiday bread with golden raisins, dried apricot, dried cranberry and dried pineapple. Orange zest and the selected vanilla-and-orange-oil flavouring give this version its citrus character.

A small preferment of all-purpose flour, instant yeast and cool water rests overnight. All of it is then mixed into a dough with additional flour and water, eggs, softened butter, yeast, salt, sugar and the flavourings.

The dough is kneaded until soft and smooth, then left covered until puffy. It is gently deflated before the dried fruits and orange zest are kneaded in.

The dough is shaped into a ball and placed in a tall, straight-sided pan. It rises again until just above the rim, then bakes through a sequence of decreasing oven temperatures to form a deep-brown loaf.

The panettone cools completely after baking. Hamel’s written recipe uses the overnight preferment as part of this fruit-studded loaf, with the tall round form and browned crust framing its sweet dough.