Panettone ? The Bread Bakers Apprentice

I have set myself a challenge to work through Peter Reinhart’s Bread Bakers Apprentice book and make a new loaf each week. I am not working through the book very methodically as both P and I have completely different preferences, P’s requests so far have been the French bread, Sour Dough and Grissini but I jump straight to the sweet section and pick out the Panettone which I made last weekend. I know it is meant to be a celebration cake but I thought I should practice and perfect it before Easter or Christmas came…..it sounded logic to me! I have always loved Panettone, with it’s aromatic fruit flavours and light airy texture, it is so light I can easily eat a whole loaf myself, and have done on many occasions.

Each time I make a bread from the BBA book I am always surprised how well they turn out, granted they have a lot more steps than any other bread I have made before using this book but taking the time for the dough to ferment definitely creates a superior loaf. Peter Reinhart’s recipe for Panettone takes two days to make and starts with a sour dough barm, which in itself takes four days to create. Lucky for me I have my sour dough barm still brewing in the fridge.

I have not added the recipe here as I do not have sufficient patience to write a two page recipe down which means I could miss something critical out  and if you are serious about cultivating a sour dough I would seriously recommend buying the Bread Bakers Apprentice book which offers lots of technical tips also.

I did quite well with this Panettone, the two loaves actually lasted me over a week and I even gave some away!

Here are some other stories and photos from other people who have made the Panettone.

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