Panettone

Merry Christmas everyone!!

This year, I decided not to make gingerbread men like I always do and try something different. My boyfriend really loves panettone, especially the chocolate chip one, so I tried making orange chocolate chip panettone! And to tell you the truth, I don't really consider what I made panettone, since it's supposed to be sort of fluffy and light on the inside and mine turned out a bit dense. Kind of like a cake :(

I'm still posting the recipe in case any of you want to give it a try. I made a few changes since I didn't want to add dried fruit. But I'm sure I did something wrong mainly because after the 15 hours of rising, my dough hadn't rised! I searched online to see what can be the cause and there were a few alternatives:

1) The yeast is dead (or expired).

2) Proofing is done in a cool place.

3) The dough wasn't kneeded enough.

I thought maybe my oven was too cool for the rising, so I preheated it a bit, let it cool and placed the dough inside for another 5 hours (first rising). It did rise a bit, but not even close to triple the size. I still decided to continue with the recipe and bake it to see the ending result. It wasn't bad at all, just not a panettone!

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Slow Rise Panettone

Adapted from Andreas Recipes (Gourmet Magazine 2008)

Makes one 6x4-inch panettone

3-3/4 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Zest of one orange

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp warm honey

12-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter (10-1/2 tbsp softened and cut into tbsp, 1 tbsp melted, 1 tbsp chilled)

3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

6x4-inch panettone mold

In the bowl of a mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, yeast, orange zest and seeds of the vanilla bean and mix at low speed. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, 2/3 cup lukewarm water and the honey.

While the mixer runs at low speed, pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients slowly. Increase speed to medium-high and continue mixing. Add the softened butter, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing completely after adding each tbsp. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until the dough is smoothe and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Melt the 1 tbsp of butter, let it cool and mix it into the mini chocolate chips. Stir the chocolate into the dough with a wooden spoon.

Place the dough in a large bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise in a cold oven with the door closed for about 12 to 15 hours, until the dough has nearly tripled in volume.

Rub your hands with flour, sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and turn it onto a floured board. Sprinkle a little more flour onto the dough. Fold the edges into the centre and place seams side down into the panettone mold. Cover with a damp tea towel and let it rise in a draft-free spot at room temperature for about 3 to 5 hours, until the dough is just above the top of the mold.

Place the rack in the lower third of the oven (closer to the bottom than the top) and preheat it to 370 degrees F. Place the mold with the dough onto a baking sheet. Use a serrated knife to score an X across the entire surface of the dough and place the 1 tbsp chilled butter into the centre of the X.

Bake for about 1 to 1-1/4 hours, until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the panettone comes out moist but not wet. The top of the panettone will be dark (but not burnt). (I covered it with foil paper after 1 hour in the oven so the top won't burn.)

Pierce the skewers all the way through the panettone and through the papers. (This part I found weird!) Hang the panettone upside down over a large pot or between 2 objects of equal height. Cool completely, then slice into wedges for serving.