Category: Austin

Easy Homemade Panettone + Podcast

da-AL38 Comments
Photo of panettone.
Homemade tasty panettone is quick and easy! Here’s some I just baked, cooling on its side, on parchment paper, in front of the window.
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Panettone, or pan dulce as my Argentine mother calls it, is no longer just for holidays! Moreover, in my home, its one of my family’s favorite desserts that I make. For anyone who has yet to become acquainted with panettone, the cake-fluffy queen of usually dense fruit breads. Tradition calls for them to balloon at the top akin to chef’s hats. Mine are freeform, same the novels I’m working to make into podcasts. Fragrant and puffy with yeast, they’re a decadence of eggs, butter, fruits, and honey that can be enjoyed for breakfast, afternoon tea, and an anytime dessert.

Whatever panettone success I’ve enjoyed is thanks to the melding of these two great no-knead bread baking books…

First mix your ingredients…

Use the panettone easy recipe here from “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking,” by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François. By the way, I’ve also blogged a detailed review about the book.

Bread in 5 Minutes book cover

Then bake your Panettone this way…

Bake it covered, inside a heat-resistant pot and lid, such as a dutch oven or the insert and lid to a crock pot. Here the gist in someone else’s video for a baking different type of bread. I was inspired to do it that way after reading “My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method,” by Jim Lahey. Some time ago, I blogged about using his book.

"My Bread" by Jim Lahey book cover

Hey, when a cousin visited from Italy, she said it was the best she ever tasted!

My loaves aren’t cookbook photo-perfect, I use recipes only loosely, and I never repeat the same recipe exactly the same way. However, these two books will guarantee that you’ll end up with something delicious!

Extra tips…

  • The recipe is very flexible. For instance, if you don’t like nuts or dried fruit, double up on one or the other, or leave them out entirely — or substitute them with something else like chocolate chips.
  • For the first half of the baking, leave the lid on. For the remainder, take the lid off to shave off baking time and achieve a browner crust.
  • Lining the pot with parchment paper makes removal and cleanup much easier.
  • Halving the recipe is what I often do. This is a rich cake/bread.
  • Leftover  panettone freezes nicely.
  • Whole wheat flour is a good, hearty alternative for the white flour.
What holiday food do you eat year ’round?