Panettone is the Italian Christmas sweet par excellence.
Making a homemade Panettone is not an easy task but I will give you a fairly simple one. If it does not come out you always have the option of buying them.
The brands I like the most: Bauli, Le tre Marie, or Paluani.
The history and the name of the Panettone is funny :
There are many stories about the origins of Panettone, however the most credible story is that of Toni, a Milanese chef, who at the end of a Christmas dinner at the home of the nobleman, Ludovico il Moro, due to a mistake, had to bring to the table a dessert prepared the day before made only with flour, butter, eggs, candied fruits and raisins. The dessert was a great success with the nobleman and his guests. Everyone urged chef Toni to give his dessert a name and he named it “‘pan del Toni” or ‘Toni’s bread’, which comes from the Milanese dialect.
Over time it became Panettone.
The recipe to make it at home is as follows:
1 kg of flour
250 gr of sugar
2 tablespoons of honey
200 gr of butter
3 eggs
50 g brewer’s yeast (dissolved in 200 ml of milk at more or less lukewarm temperature)
1 dash of some flavored liqueur of your choice
1/2 teaspoon malt extract
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon of almond essence
1 teaspoon of rosewater essence
1/2 kg chopped candied fruit
150 gr raisins
150 grams of chopped walnuts
Elaboration:
This recipe is very easy because we are going to use the blender to prepare it so it will only take a few minutes to mix and make the dough. Pour all the ingredients except the flour and the polished fruits, raisins and nuts, in the blender or mixer. Process until a homogeneous dough is formed and slowly add the flour. A smooth and well-worked dough should be formed (this ensures that it will rise properly).
Put it in a large bowl, cover with a cloth and let it rest in a place at room temperature without drafts until it doubles its volume.
Knead on a lightly floured work surface. Work the dough well, stretching it. Incorporate the fruit, raisins and nuts, and work until well distributed. Form a bun and let it rise again. We will know that it has sufficiently swollen when we flatten it slightly with a finger and it swells again.
Take out a special pan for panettone or panettone. Grease and flour the pan and bake at moderate temperature.
Once it begins to brown on top, sprinkle with water and continue baking until golden brown. We can tell it is ready also because the bottom of the mold will sound hollow.
