Panettone Cake - Italian Bread Dessert

Panettone Cake - Italian Sweet Bread Dessert, Christmas and thanksgiving dessert recipes

5 from 9 votes

Panettone Cake - Italian Bread Dessert

Panettone Cake is an Italian sweet bread dessert that is light and fluffy, packed with candied fruits, and full of festive flavors. One of the best and unique, fun dessert recipe to try for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Rest time10

Total Time11 20

Course: Breakfast, Desserts, snacks, sweets

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings:

Calories: 373kcal

Author: Kushi

Ingredients

For the Panettone starter

½ cup Water , lukewarm
1 teaspoon Active dry yeast
1 ½ cups All purpose flour
1 teaspoon Salt

For fruit mixture

1 ¼ cup Dried raisins
2 ¼ cup Candied fruit
⅓ cup Fruit juice or liqueur or rum (optional)

For the Panettone dough

2 tablespoon Active dry yeast
1 cup Milk , chilled
10 Egg yolks , chilled
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 ½ teaspoon Salt
1 cup Sugar
5 cups All purpose flour
1 ⅓ cup Butter , room temperature

Egg wash

1 Egg , beaten
Butter , optional

Instructions

Step 1 (Prepare Panettone Starter) on Day 1

For the panettone starter, combine water and yeast, then add flour and salt. Mix this on low speed for 3 minutes, and for 5 minutes on medium speed.
½ cup Water, 1 teaspoon Active dry yeast, 1 ½ cups All purpose flour, 1 teaspoon Salt
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise for 3 hours or until it is puffy.
Punch down the dough. Shape it into a ball and refrigerate overnight, minimum of 8 hours at least.
Keep this starter at room temperature at least 2 hours before you start making panettone dough.

Step 2 on Day 1

Meanwhile, you can mix the candied fruits and dried raisins in orange juice or for Christmas flavor mix with rum or your favorite liqueur and refrigerate overnight or a day before.
1 ¼ cup Dried raisins, 2 ¼ cup Candied fruit, ⅓ cup Fruit juice
Or you can simply skip mixing and add the dry raisins and candied fruit mix as it is to the recipe the following day.

Step 3 (Prepare panettone dough) on Day 2

In a stand mixer with hook attachment add salt, sugar, yeast, flour and mix to combine. Add milk, egg yolks, vanilla extract and mix till everything comes together, mix for 3 minutes on low speed. Add the starter from Step I and mix on low for additional 5 minutes. Next, increase the speed to medium and knead for 10 minutes.
2 tablespoon Active dry yeast, 1 cup Milk, 10 Egg yolks, 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract, 2 ½ teaspoon Salt, 1 cup Sugar, 5 cups All purpose flour
During this kneading process, make sure you stop the mixer and scrape down the sides every now and then to stop the dough from overheating and to ensure uniform mix.
Add butter and mix on low speed for 10 minutes or till the dough is very smooth.
1 ⅓ cup Butter
Finally, add the candied fruit mixture from Step 2 and mix until just combined.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it sit in warm place for about 3 hours or until triple in size.
Deflate the dough without any additional flour. Divide the dough into desired shapes and size. Shape it into rounds and place it in greased molds. (I have used my cupcake pans and one homemade large panettone mold using parchment paper)
Let this proof for 2 hours one last time.

Step 4 (Bake Panettone) on Day 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Apply Using a pastry brush, apply Egg wash to the top and score using razor blade or knife. Add some chunks of butter too if desired (totally optional).
1 Egg, Butter
Bake the large panettone one for about 40 to 60 minutes and smaller ones for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The baking time may vary depending on the size of cakes and your oven.
For large panettone only – once its outside the oven, pierce 2 bamboo skewers and put it upside down. This is mainly done to avoid it from collapsing as it cools down.
It may take few hours to come to room temperature. It tastes the best when served a day after.
Panettone is ready. Happy Thanksgiving, Christmas and New year to all of you. Have fun.

Notes

Only Egg yolks are used in the recipe. Separated Egg whites can be stored in fridge for up to 2 days or you can freeze it up to 1 month. You can use these egg whites in any recipe you desire, e.g. a healthy egg-white omelet or try one of my favorite recipe, i.e Pavlova - Australian Christmas dessert.
For make-ahead panettone dough (refer to Step 3 on Day 2) - after the dough is mixed and has tripled in size, you can cover the dough and keep it in refrigerator until you are ready to bake. Thaw the dough at room temperature for an hour, and then place the dough in moulds and let it rise for another two hours. For baking, follow Step IV in the recipe description given above.

Nutrition