Traditional Panettone

• servings: 16 servings
• total time: 15 hours 55 minutes

Ingredients

600g all-purpose flour, divided, plus a little more as needed

1 tablespoon instant yeast (slightly more than 1 packet)

⅔ cup water

6 large eggs (weigh whites, replace half weight with milk)

Finely grated zest from 1 orange

130g sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

¾ tsp almond extract

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

220g room temperature unsalted butter, to make the dough

1 tablespoon (14g) cold unsalted butter, for the top of the dough

Vegetable oil spray (for the dough bowl)

½ cup dark raisins

½ cup golden raisins

½ cup best quality candied orange peel, or a combination of 1/4-inch diced dried fruit, such as apricots, pears, cranberries, or dried cherries

¼ cup dark rum, such as Meyer’s rum

¼ cup hot water

½ cup slivered almonds, optional

Directions

Make the sponge (starter) and let it rise: In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir 1 cup flour and 1 tablespoon instant yeast together until blended. Add the water and mix with a spoon. It should be the consistency of thick cake batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes. The sponge should double in size. (If using active dry yeast, place the water in the bowl first, stir in the yeast, and let stand until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour.) Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Soak the fruit: In a small bowl, stir the dark raisins, golden raisins, candied orange peel, rum, and water together. Cover with a plate and let soak overnight. Measure the almonds and set the measuring cup on top of the plate (so you don’t forget them). Simply Recipes / Sally VargasSimply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Measure the flour and salt: In a bowl, whisk the remaining flour and salt together until blended.

Mix the dough: Once the sponge has risen, transfer the bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Set it on medium speed, and add the eggs to the sponge one at a time, until each is incorporated. Continue at medium speed and add the orange zest, sugar, and vanilla. Drop the mixer to low speed and gradually add about 2 1/2 cups of the flour mixture and mix for about 2 minutes, or until blended. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl. The dough should be very soft and stretchy. On low speed, gradually add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour until it is incorporated.

Knead the dough: Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed for 8 minutes, or until the dough is very smooth and elastic. Stop 2 or 3 times to push down any dough that creeps up on the dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the butter, a few tablespoons at a time, until it is incorporated. Continue to mix with the dough hook for 3 minutes until the dough is silky and shiny. If it still seems extremely sticky, gradually add from 1 to 4 tablespoons additional flour. The dough should be very soft and still sticky and will just barely pull away from the sides of the bowl, but not the bottom.

Overnight rise in the refrigerator: Keeping the dough in the bowl, pat it into a ball. Spray lightly with vegetable oil spray and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the dough. Refrigerate for 8 hours or up to 2 days.

Nutrition

• Calories: 337 kcal
• Total Fat: 12 g
• Saturated Fat: 6 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 83 mg
• Sodium: 225 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 50 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Total Sugars: 17 g
• Protein: 7 g