Sourdough Panettone

Sourdough panettone is a classic Christmas fruit bread made with stiff sourdough starter and raisins, candied oranges, and lemon. It is one of the most difficult sourdough breads to master. I have tried this bread after several trial and errors.

History of Panettone?

Panettone is Christmas bread from Milan, Italy.

Panettone  has it name derived  from “small loaf” — panetto — with the suffix “-one” altering the meaning to “big, small loaf”.

This naturally leavened sweet bread has a complex and lengthy preparation process that takes place over 72 hours.

The preparation process includes multiple rounds of kneading and rising. After baking, the panettones are left to cool upside down to ensure the characteristic domed top does not sink. 

Mastering the Panettone means  mastering the natural yeast! . You need to tame the levito madre/ Stiff starter.

You can make stiff starter with your 100% liquid starter. Check this post for more information

Ingredients to make Sourdough Panettone

You need following ingredients to make this

For first dough

For Second dough Ingredients

• Manitoba flour: You need high protein flour for making this panettone. Bread flour and all-purpose flour will not work here.
• Eggs: This is egg rich especially egg yolk rich bread.  That gives the characteristic yellow hue to the bread and makes it a soft pillowy structure.
• Butter: Butter rich bread too you need to add butter to do dough.
• Sugar: Granulated sugar is used in this recipe
• Pasta Madre: You need stiff, sweet starter to make this panettone. Here is the recipe to make a stiff starter.
• Candied citron:  You can use  both homemade and storebought citron.
• Candied orange:  You can use  both homemade and storebought orange.
• Orange zest: Freshly  zested  orange zest
• Lemon zest: Freshly zested lemon zest
• Vanilla extract: Use natural vanilla extract or vanilla paste.
• Rum-soaked Raisins: If you don’t want rum-soaked raisins you can use orange juice to soak the raisins.
• Cranberries.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

First you need to make stiff starter, make sure to refresh at least 3 times before adding to panettone dough.

Panettone first dough

Window pane test

Day before baking you need to start first dough with stiff starter, flour, sugar, egg yolk, and butter. Set aside until it reaches triple volume.

Once the first dough is triple volume make second dough, again add, flour, honey, sugar, barely malt, salt, honey vanilla extract, butter, rum soaked raisins craisins, candied oranges, candied citron.

Trippled first dough

Second dough made with flour, all of the first dough, raisins, craisins, candied orange , candied citron and vanilla extract

Mix everything and divide the dough  and transfer to prepared panettone paper tin. Set aside until it reaches the rim for around 4 hours.

Panettone dough divided and transfered to mold

Set aside the dough for the last 1 hours of proof without any covering as you need to get dried layer so that it will be easy for you cut the cross and put the butter on the top.

Top with pearl sugar and bake it at 325°F oven for first 15 minutes and then at 300°F for 40 minutes.

Also, when you take out the panettone make sure to hang it upside down for  24 hours. As this bread is very rich in egg yolk and sugar it is delicate and more like souffle or angel food cake nature.

Quantity of the  dough  you can put it in a panettone mold is

You should use 10% more dough per mold. For example,  for 500g mold use 550- 575g  of dough for molds 750g you put inside 825g of dough and for molds from 1000g you should put inside 1100g of Dough. 

500g = 13cm x 9.5cm/  6.75-Inches W X 4.8-Inches H = 550g dough

750= 15x11cm/ 6  inch = 825g dough

1000g=16x11cm= 1100g

Enjoy  panettone.

Variations to the panettone

There are countless variations and twists you can try with panettone, a traditional Italian sweet bread. Here are a few delightful variations:

1. Chocolate Chip Panettone: Add chocolate chips or chunks to the dough for a delightful chocolatey twist.
2. Dried Fruit and Nut Panettone: Mix in various dried fruits like apricots, cranberries, and raisins along with nuts such as almonds, walnuts, or pistachios to add texture and flavor.
3. Alcoholic Infusion: Soak the dried fruits in rum, brandy, or any liquor of your choice before adding them to the dough to impart a boozy note.
4. Glazed or Iced Panettone: After baking, drizzle a glaze made of powdered sugar and citrus juice over the top for added sweetness.
5. Filled Panettone: Cut the panettone horizontally, spread a layer of Nutella, custard, or a flavored cream between the layers, and reassemble the bread before serving.
6. Savory Panettone: Experiment by adding ingredients like cheese, herbs, or even olives to create a savory version of this traditionally sweet bread.
7. Mini Panettones: Instead of one large loaf, bake individual-sized panettones in muffin tins for a cute and easily shareable treat.

Equipment

To make good panettone, you need, kitchen scale, kitchenaid mixer and panettone mold

Storage

These panettones will keep well stored in a closed bag for at least a week. They also freeze very well for up to 6 months.

FAQ

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Print Recipe

5 from 31 votes

Sourdough panettone

Sourdough Panettone is a classic Christmas fruit bread madewith stiff sourdough starter and raisins, candied oranges, and lemon. It is oneof the most difficult sourdough breads to master. I have tried this bread afterseveral trial and errors.

Prep Time2 days d

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Total Time2 days d 50 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Panettone, Sourdough Bread recipes

Servings: 18 servings

Calories: 348kcal

Equipment

• kitchen scale
• Kitchen aid Mixer
• panettone mold
• Skewers

Ingredients

First dough

• 110 g Pasta madre stiff starter with 45% hydration
• 110 g sugar superfine/caster (see note)
• 180 g water
• 100 g egg yolks about 6
• 113 g butter softened not melted and cut into several pieces.
• 375 g high gluten flour 13.5% to 15% protein I used Manitoba flour.

Second dough

• All the first dough
• 90 g high gluten flour 13.5% to 15% protein
• ¾ teaspoon salt ~5 grams
• 100 g sugar superfine/caster
• 91 g egg yolks about 5 or 6
• 150 g butter softened (not melted)and cut into several pieces.
• 3 g barley malt about ¼ teaspoon
• 100 g raisins rum soaked.
• 80 g craisins
• 90 g candied orange diced small.
• 45 g candied citron diced small.

Aromatic mix

• 46 g honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 vanilla bean paste
• ½ tablespoon lemon grated
• ½ tablespoon orange grated
• Egg wash optional
• One egg beaten with a splash of milk or cold water.

Instructions

• Day 1
• Soak raisins in rum (soaks for 1.5 hours at least or overnight for best results), refresh pasta madre starter 3 times throughout morning and afternoon (example, 8AM, noon, and 3PM), and then make first dough in evening (45 mins to 1-hour active time)
• To begin, mix ingredients for aromatic blend in a small bowl, cover and let sit for 24 hours
• Refreshing your Starter
• Your starter (liquid or stiff) has been refreshed enough times so that it is very active (suggestion is at least 3 refreshers the day that you are making first dough) (eg, refresh at 8AM, noon, 3PM, and then use some to make first dough at 7PM)
• Mixing the First Dough
• When you are ready to mix the first dough, add the stiff starter to the bowl of a standing mixer, along with flour and water.
• Mix for 10 to 15 minutes, then add sugar, and then softened butter in several pieces.
• Only after butter is completely blended, add the egg yolks in several stages.
• Ensure that the dough temperature stays under 26 degrees C (78F). If it goes higher, place dough in freezer for 10 minutes (remember this for second dough too)
• Mix for 25 minutes until you get a silky-smooth elastic dough. Test dough for Window pane.
• Bulk Rise of First Dough (12 hours/overnight)
• Place dough in large container (three times the size of the dough), cover, and let rise at 28/30 C (82 to 86F) for 12 hours. You may leave the covered dough inside the oven (turned off!) with the oven light turned on for warmth if you have a cool kitchen.
• Day 2 Mixing of Second Dough
• Overview: Make the second dough (45 mins), form loaves/rest dough (1 hour), let loaves rise (4 to 6 hours), and bake (35 mins to 1 hour, depending on liner size, see note)
• To begin, consider placing dough/bowl/hook in refrigerator while measuring ingredients for dough two.
• When ready to proceed, add flour and barley malt to the day 1 dough and mix at slow speed than medium for 15 minutes.
• Slowly incorporate sugar.
• Afterwards, add half the egg yolks, salt, and aromatic blend.
• Knead until smooth and homogenous.
• Add 75 grams of the softened butter, mix well, and then the rest of the yolks.
• Knead until smooth and then add the remaining butter, the raisins, craisins and the candied orange and lemon.
• Bulk Rise of Second Dough
• Remove from machine and let stand in covered bowl for 30 minutes.
• Remove dough from bowl and let sit uncovered on counter for 15 minutes.
• Final Rise of Second Dough
• Divide dough and form into balls sized according to size of the containers/pans/liners you are using (see notes)
• Allow loaves to rise in liners placed on a baking sheet, covered by plastic wrap at a temp of 28 to 30 C (82 F to 86F) for 4 to 6 hours. You may leave the covered dough inside the oven (turned off!) with the oven light turned on for warmth if you have a cool kitchen.
• You need to take the cover of the dough for the last two hours of dough rising as it will create a thin film on the top.
• The dough should rise within 1 inch of the top of mold. If it rises more than that, you risk getting a mushroom shaped panettone, which is not considered ideal.
• Preparing to Bake
• In the meantime, before baking, pre-heat the oven to 162° C (325° F) and allow panettone to form skin by uncovering for 45minutes to 1 hour prior to baking.
• Cut a cross on top of panettone prior to baking and add a chunk of butter to the center (see photo collage) If you want shiny loaves, consider brushing top with egg wash! Top with pearl sugar.
• Bake loaves.
• Center should read 94° C (201 °F) when done (takes about 50-60 minutes for 1 kg dough; see note for baking according to size)
• Invert and cooling of loaves
• To cool, immediately invert loaves by inserting wooden skewers across bottom and hang upside down on top of deep pot (NOTE: you should use very pointy skewers, or it may be difficult to pierce the panettone liners
• After completely baked, place the loaves in plastic/cellophane bags. Before wrapping in plastic, you must wait 10 to 12 hours for loaves to completely cool. (to reduce risk of mold, consider spraying inside of bags with pure food grade alcohol and dry out completely before using)
• Panettone is best eaten at least 5 days after baking as the flavors continue to develop after baked.

Video

Notes

If you are using liquid starter  50 g (100% hydration) (or 75 g of 45% hydration)

Nutrition

Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 206mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 520IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg

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Swathi

This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread.  All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.