A Christmas treat: making your own homemade panettone is possible with our easy step-by-step recipe!

Panettone is an Italian cakeemblematic of the Christmas season. Originally from Milan, this soft and fragrant dessert is a true symbol of the holidays, appreciated throughout Italy and elsewhere. In France, more and more panettone are offered at this time of year. But why wouldn’t you do it yourself? Our Italian culinary expert Silvia Santucci shares her traditional recipe. Panettone, which literally means “big bread”, is a delicacy that is enjoyed throughout the holidays, often accompanied by candied fruit and raisins. It is precisely this version that we are revealing to you. Up to you !

Also read: should you remove the paper before cutting the panettone? The answer from an Italian expert

• 250 g wheat flour (T45)
• 250 g oatmeal flour (or Manitoba flour)
• 190 g of powdered sugar or caster sugar
• 20 cl of lukewarm water
• 1 tbsp. to c. liquid honey
• 15 g of fresh baker’s yeast
• 3 egg yolks
• 50 g melted butter
• 1 organic lemon (to use the zest)
• ½ organic orange (to use the zest)
• 1 tbsp. to c. vanilla extract or liquid vanilla
• 1 pinch of salt or fine salt

• 100 g soft butter
• 100 g raisins
• 40 g candied lemon peel
• 40 g candied orange peel
  

For the first shoot:

Combine the two flours in a salad bowl, pour in the sugar, mix again. Melt the butter in the microwave, then let it cool. Add lukewarm water to a glass, add honey and stir. Add the crumbled baker’s yeast and mix again to dissolve. Place the contents of the glass (water/yeast/honey) in the flour and sugar mixture. Stir quickly with a fork, no need for everything to be combined at this stage. Add the egg yolks and melted butter, mix again with a fork (the dough will stick, this is normal).

Using a microplane type flat grater, grate the lemon zest over the dough. Do the same with the zest of the orange. Place the vanilla and salt. Mix everything quickly with the fork. Dust the work surface with a little flour (keep some flour nearby in a bowl to repeat this operation). Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead it until it becomes smooth. Flour the bottom of a large clean salad bowl, place the dough formed into a ball. Cover with a clean damp cloth and bake in the oven at 30°C for 3 hours, until the dough doubles in volume. Store the dough in the bottom of the oven.

For the second shoot:

As soon as the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down and transfer it to a floured work surface. Knead it quickly, then flatten it slightly on the work surface and add the soft butter, one piece at a time, spreading it over the dough and kneading just after. Add a new piece of butter when the previous one is mixed into the dough. Flour the work surface if the dough sticks. Knead for at least 10 minutes, as for puff pastry, taking the dough in the middle, turning it and folding it.

By kneading in this way, the dough incorporates air and remains soft. The dough is ready when it is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch. To check, take a small piece of dough, roll it in your hands then pull it: if it breaks the dough is not ready and you must continue to knead it, on the other hand if the pulled dough does not break and makes a sort of transparent veil, this means that it is ready. Once the dough is ready, spread it lightly with your hands and add the raisins and the candied lemon and orange peel in several batches, kneading after each addition. Mix for at least 2 minutes. Return the dough to the salad bowl, cover with the towel, place back in the oven at 30°C and leave to rise a second time for 3 hours, until the dough doubles in volume.

For the third shoot:

After the 2nd proof, when the dough has doubled in volume, place it on the work surface, without letting it deflate too much. Lightly spread the dough with your hands, then fold it, roll it out on the work surface and knead it several times. This last kneading is used to give strength to the dough. Shape by turning the dough on the work surface between the palms of your hands. Then, place it delicately in the panettone mold placed in a round mold.

The mold helps stabilize the panettone without risking the paper mold breaking. Place the panettone mold (with the round mold underneath) in the oven at 30°C. Leave to rise a third time, until the edge of the dough comes within a finger’s reach of the edge of the paper mold. The center of the dough should extend beyond the paper, but it should not extend beyond the edges of the paper before baking, otherwise the panettone will overflow once in the oven, as it is still growing during cooking. This third shoot will take 2.5 hours to 3 hours.

Turn on the oven to 170°C (static). After the third shoot, using a small, sharp knife, cut the surface of the panettone in the middle, forming a cross. Insert four strips of butter into the notches of the cross. Cook it in the lower part of the oven and bake the panettone for 1 hour.

If after 10 minutes of cooking you notice that the surface of the panettone is browning too quickly, lower the oven to 160°C. Once the cooking time has passed, monitor the cooking of the panettone by inserting the tip of a knife into the middle. If it comes out clean the panettone is cooked, otherwise continue cooking for a few more minutes.

For cooling:

As soon as cooking is finished, pierce the bottom of the panettone (from left to right or vice versa) with two long skewers. Turn the panettone over and place it upside down in a high pan, holding it in place with the skewers, so as not to risk it touching the bottom of the pan. This “upside down” method allows the panettone to remain well inflated while cooling, without risking it deflating.

Let the panettone cool completely for several hours, ideally overnight. Once cooled, turn the panettone upright, remove the skewers, place the panettone on a large plate and serve. If you’re not serving it right away, put it in a large, sealed freezer bag so it stays soft. Keep the panettone at room temperature until ready to eat.