Mini Panettone Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you serve mini panettone? ›

Panettone is famous for its tangy flavor and yellow, soft and gooey dough that is unlike no other. The secret behind it is an Italian yeast called lievito madre, or mother yeast. But it's not an easy yeast to work with: you need time and patience to master it.

Making an artisan panettone takes days of careful work. Here's why it's worth it. It's been called the Mount Everest of holiday baking, considered by bakers to be the most difficult baked good to perfect. Most bakers don't even try, unless they're driven by personal obsession or family destiny.

Your dough can become sticky when you add too much water or the flour isn't suitable for the type of dough you are making. Over proofing or fermenting the dough can also result in the gluten structure weakening causing sticky dough.

It's common to serve it with a sweet wine and an accompaniment of something rich and creamy, perhaps based on mascarpone (with egg yolks, as used in tiramisu), plus dried or candied fruits. Ice cream, jelly, custard, hot or cold sauces and some fruits make panettone a delicious pudding.

It seems that your Italian 00 or Canadian flour suits this best. For Panettone, it will undergo a lengthy, 2 day fermentation process with a sourdough starter.

It has a texture akin to sandwich bread, in that when you compress it between your fingers it can be molded into Play-Doh-esque forms. It's porous and slightly sour, a flavor it derives from the intense fermenting process it undergoes before it hits the oven. It is labor-intensive and prohibitively difficult to bake.

Panettone tends to be a little more expensive than most other baked goods, mainly due to the amount of time that goes into making each one. A traditional panettone is usually a lengthy procedure, however, a cheap mass-produced alternative will take shortcuts in the baking process which will be reflected in its taste.

Panettone can be eaten in a variety of ways. It's commonly sliced and enjoyed as is, but it can also be toasted, buttered, used in desserts like bread pudding, or even paired with savoury dishes.

Fat also keeps bread from staling too quickly—the fattier the bread, the slower its decay. Breads like focaccia, brioche, or panettone, made with large amounts of oil and butter, tend to have a longer shelf life.

How to tell when panettone is done? ›

Bake the panettone in a preheated 375F oven until an internal temperature reaches between 190F and 195F when an instant thermometer is inserted deeply into the top center, 60 to 90 minutes.

Storing and Freezing Panettone

The panettone should last up to five days, though it tends to be a bit drier after a day or two. I have never seen a scrap left after the first day. You can also wrap it in plastic and then foil, and freeze it for up to two months.

Keep your panettone in a dry and cool place (54-65°F), away from direct sunlight. This is especially important if you have purchased a panettone with a glaze; they will be extremely sensitive to heat and light. After slicing, store the remaining inside of the cellophane bag that it was originally wrapped in.

Panettone needs a lot of warmth, humidity, and time to rise, and there's a real risk that the surface will dry out during proofing if proper measures aren't taken.

Serve in place of coffee cake at breakfast or brunch. Toasted panettone slathered with butter, drizzled with Acacia honey or sprinkled with cinnamon sugar is a delicious snack any time of day.

Storing: Keep your panettone in a dry and cool place (54-65°F), away from direct sunlight. This is especially important if you have purchased a panettone with a glaze; they will be extremely sensitive to heat and light. After slicing, store the remaining inside of the cellophane bag that it was originally wrapped in.

To preserve its freshness, keep it tightly sealed in the bag that it comes in and store it at room temperature away from direct heat or sunlight. Enjoy panettone at room temperature or lightly toasted for 2-3 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit and pair it with a coffee, tea, or dessert wine.