This Is Italy
We have our apple turnovers, apple fritters, Christmas wreaths and of course oliebollen. Italy has panettone. Panettone is a kind of round, high cake, filled with fruits, candied peel and raisins. The pannettone has long been the traditional December pastry of Milan and the surrounding area. In recent years, pannettone has conquered all of Italy.
Table of contents
Christmas stollen the Italian way
This Italian variant of the Christmas stollen with food has a nice and airy structure due to the use of special dough and the addition of sugar, raisins, sugared citrus fruits and pieces of chocolate. In the traditional Milanese preparation, fermented raisins and half-cooked dough were used.
To the fury of the Italians, the European Union has imposed requirements on cooking techniques to prevent people from getting sick.
The taste of the modern panettone therefore differs from the traditional one. This does not alter the fact that panettoni are, of course, secretly made according to the 'real' recipe.
Do you want to know more about the history of the panettone? Then read this article.
Panettone: the national delicacy at Christmas
Yes, it is a true delicacy. It's typically one of those products that you've never missed in your life (because even yourself, it doesn't look that special at first glance), until you've tasted it once.
Then you are sold and you turn your nose at that factory Christmas stollen that you get in your Christmas package. You can of course make the panettone yourself and use your own recipe and that is what many Italian moms do. Topped with chocolate, with cream, with liqueur, or…
But bakers and patissiers are also working overtime these days and the traditional cakes are therefore in all shops, bakeries and supermarkets.
A tradition is now also the box in which it is packed. It should be shiny and decorated with beautiful ribbons. The panettone is served in slices, together with a glass of prosecco or a sweet wine.
San Biagio
As with many traditions in Italy, the panettone is often prepared in-house and given as gifts to friends and relatives. So you run the risk in Italy after the Holidays still stuck with quite a few panettoni. But the Italians wouldn't be the Italians if they didn't come up with a new tradition around this.
On February 3, the day of San Biagio, the remaining cakes are devoured en masse. Bakers follow on from tradition by baking new panettoni before this date, so that you run the risk of getting one again.
That way you will never get rid of it! Fortunately, you can eat as much panettone as you want, after all, it protects you against diseases.
We have also seen panettone in specialized stores (and online shops) in the Netherlands. A slice of cake like this is also a good addition, right between the Christmas stollen, oliebollen and apple turnovers, isn't it?
Panettone traditional recipe
The most important part of making a good panettone is the fermentation of the dough. Make sure you have a good warm place where the dough can rise well!
Is baking a panettone a bit too much work for you, but you want to do just a little more than just take a ready-made panettone out of its packaging, try the recipe below!
Panettone is delicious with a glass of prosecco, but can also be eaten for breakfast. Buon appetito!
The preparation takes you 30 minutes, the resting and rising time 3 hours, the baking time 60 minutes. The recipe is for 12 people.
Panettone ingredients
What do you need to make a real Italian panettone? These are the traditional ingredients.
- 4 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
- 30 gr fresh yeast (can be bought at the bakery)
- 400 gr flour + extra for dusting
- 100 gr granulated sugar
- 250 gr (soft) butter + extra for greasing
- 2 large eggs
- 7 egg yolks
- 2 vanilla pods
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- grated zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp salt
- 160 gr raisins
- 25 ml of rum
- 70 g candied orange peel
- 60 g candied lemon peel
Also needed: a mixer and a 20 cm diameter cake tin (for a low panettone). For a traditional high panettone you need a high baking pan.
Panettone preparation
How to make a traditional Italian panettone
- Wel the raisins in the rum
Heat the milk and stir in the crumbled yeast. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm place until bubbles appear on the surface (after about XNUMX minutes).
- Bench soften the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy
Beat in the eggs one at a time and then the egg yolks one at a time. Split the vanilla pods and scrape out the seeds. Mix the seeds with the grated lemon and orange zest into the butter-egg mixture.
- sieve put the flour with the salt on top of another bowl and mix the yeast mixture with it
Mix in the egg mixture as well and beat everything to a soft dough (the dough will remain quite wet). Place the dough hooks in the mixer and mix the dough on the lowest setting for five to ten minutes.
- Fun and games the dough in a large greased bowl
Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (about XNUMX hour).
- Let Drain the raisins and cut the candied citrus peels into small pieces
Grease the baking pan and line it with baking paper.
- knead the dough again with the mixer on the middle position for 10 minutes
Turn the mixer to low and add the citrus peels and raisins. Mix everything briefly.
- Donate the dough in the baking tin and let it rise again and double in volume (2 hours)
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the cake for fifteen minutes. Then turn the temperature down to 175°C and bake for another 45 minutes until firm to the touch and golden brown (cover with aluminum foil if browning too quickly).
- Let the cake cool in the tin on a wire rack
You can store the panettone airtight (in aluminum foil or cookie tin) for about 4 weeks. So even after Christmas you will continue to enjoy this delicious Italian Christmas bread!
Panettone FAQ
Italians eat sliced panettone with coffee or tea, with a sweet wine such as spumante or moscato or with prosecco. Panettone is also enjoyed at breakfast.
Store-bought panettone can be stored in a closed plastic bag for about a week. You can store your homemade panettone in a cookie tin for a few weeks!
You can buy good panettone in the Netherlands or Belgium at Italian delicatessens or at the Xenos. Wholesalers such as Hanos, Sligro and Makro have often obtained the best from Italy.
This recipe comes from Elisabetta Cascino's website, photo: Pixabay
Comments