Winner of the Great British Bake Off, David Atherton is sharing his deliciously festive recipe for Panettone. A soft enriched sweet bread flavoured with citrus. For a truly authentic flavour, David recommends using an aroma panettone citrus oil – “to make your panettone sing!”
INGREDIENTS
For the dough:
- 20g white chocolate
- 30g unsalted butter
- 15g caster sugar
- 3 medium egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 tsp orange extract (aroma panettone is best)
- 260g cake flour (or plain flour)
- 1 tsp fast-action yeast
- 10g cornflour
- 1 tsp salt
- 100ml warm water
- 130g your choice of fillings (I’m going for candied peel, raisins and chocolate chips)
For the crust:
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 egg white
- 50g ground almonds
- 10g cornflour
METHOD
STEP ONE
Melt the white chocolate with the butter, then whisk together with the sugar, yolks, and extracts.
STEP TWO
In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, cornflour and salt. Then add the water and bring together to form a dough. Knead in the melted mixture until it is a sticky dough (I do this with a spatula as it is really sticky). Cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
STEP THREE
Add your fillings and knead for 10 minutes (don’t worry if it is sticky, you don’t need to add any more flour). Cover and leave to rise until it doubles in size.
STEP FOUR
Divide the dough into three equal pieces and on a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a long sausage (approx. 40cm). Plait the three strands of dough tightly and transfer to a lined baking tray. Cover and allow to rise until it doubles in size again. This may take time as this is an enriched dough.
STEP FIVE
Preheat the oven to 160C (fan assisted). Then beat the crust ingredients together and transfer to a piping bag.
STEP SIX
Pipe patterns onto the plait and then bake for 45 minutes.
STEP EIGHT
Lastly, allow your Panettone to cool on a wire rack before slicing and eating with butter and marmalade. It’s best eaten fresh in bed, however it toasts very well a day after baking!
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