The classic Milanese Panettone is not just a Christmas dessert; it is a family story, a tale of patience and repeated gestures over time.
Born in the heart of Milan, this great leavened cake has represented the Italian Christmas for centuries, with its aroma of butter and citrus.
Until the early 1900s, the city was home to hundreds of bakers and pastry chefs who prepared panettone according to tradition, respecting long times and accurate workmanship.
Today, although industrial production is widespread throughout Italy, the artisanal Milanese panettone remains an essential reference.
This is testified by the 2005 regulations, which protect panettone as a typical Italian product, establishing mandatory ingredients and precise minimum percentages, quality butter, fresh eggs, raisins, candied citrus peels, and a long natural leavening.
Without these elements, you cannot talk about real panettone.
The recipe I propose stems from years of trials, errors, waits, and improvements.
It is a technically solid recipe, based on the use of sourdough and a correct management of temperatures, folds, and leavening, but at the same time, it is an emotional recipe because it rewards every effort with a soft, stringy, and fragrant crumb.
I used brewer’s yeast, but certainly, it’s better to use sourdough.
The taste is that authentic of the traditional panettone, indeed even cleaner and more intense, because it is free of preservatives.
This is the panettone I have been preparing for my family for a long time, the one that perfumes the kitchen and marks the beginning of the holidays.
If you try to make it, share your photos with me, I will publish them with pleasure, quoting your name.
Tell me about your experience in the comments, panettone is also this: sharing. Happy work… and Merry Christmas.
kcal 380 approximately per 100 g
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 2 panettone 1 kg + 1 of 750 g
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas, New Year's
Ingredients for making Classic Milanese Panettone
Recipe for 2 panettone, 1 of 750 g and 1 of 500 g
- 3/4 cup flour w 350-400
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tsp dry brewer's yeast (or 18 g fresh)
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (minimum 11 g of protein)
- 2 pieces eggs (whole)
- 1/4 cup butter (medium)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- preferment
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (minimum 11 g of protein)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg (medium)
- 4 egg yolks
- first dough
- 2 teaspoons honey
- grated zest of one orange
- grated zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon liquid vanilla
- 4 3/4 oz raisins
- 1.4 oz rum
- 3 1/2 oz candied orange
- 1 Mold panettone mold
- 1 Mold panettone mold
Preparation of Classic Milanese Panettone
Before starting to make the panettone, I recommend preparing the aromatic mixture; the sooner we prepare it, the better it will be.
Mix 2 teaspoons of honey with the orange and lemon peels and the vanilla, place it in a jar in the fridge until it is necessary to add it to the panettone dough.
Preparation of the Preferment
In a bowl, place the yeast and add lukewarm water, mix well, and add the flour, mix again, and let the preferment activate for about 30/45 minutes.
First dough
In a bowl, put the soft butter, sugar, and mix everything quickly with a whisk, add the 2 whole eggs and continue to mix manually with a whisk, finally add the Preferment and mix well.
Finally, add the flour and mix everything for a couple of minutes, until well incorporated.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest outside the fridge for about 4 hours until quadrupled in volume, or put it in the fridge for about 12 hours overnight and continue the leavening the next day.
The next morning, take it out of the fridge and let it triple if it hasn’t happened in the fridge.
In the morning, when taking the dough from the fridge, prepare the raisins with rum in a container and occasionally mix it to ensure the raisins hydrate well.
Second dough
In a planetary mixer, insert the paddle accessory, put the sugar with the soft butter at medium speed, add the egg yolks, the egg, and mix for about 2 minutes, at this point, add the previously prepared aromatic mixture and mix at medium speed for another 1 minute.
Add the first dough and mix at speed 5 with the paddle accessory until the mixture is well worked, about 2 minutes.
Now remove the paddle and place the hook, add all the sifted flour at speed 2, work for about 8 minutes, then stop and let the dough rest for 5 minutes well covered in the bowl.
Resume working the dough for another 8 minutes at speed 3, then let it rest for another 10 minutes this time in the fridge.
We will do the same thing for the last and third time at this point add the candied fruit and the drained raisins and slowly incorporate them into the dough.
Place the dough in a buttered bowl and give two folds of three, after 15 minutes make the second fold of three and let the dough double in the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a buttered work surface, divide it into two parts weighing them, I obtained one piece of 750 g and one of 500 g, but adjust according to the capacity of the mold.
Shape the two pieces into a ball by rolling them (to pirl: to form a ball by rotating it on the work surface), place them in molds, the one for 750 g in paper has a size of about 15 cm in diameter and 11 cm in height.
Let them rise in the oven with only the light on, covered for about 1 1/2 hours with film, then remove it once the dough has almost reached the edge of the mold.
Before baking, make a cross incision on the surface of the panettone, place a knob of butter and bake in a preheated oven at 338°F, put a saucepan with water in the oven for humidity, for 45-50 minutes and a few minutes less for the smaller panettone.
At the end of cooking, if you have a thermometer to measure the temperature, insert the probe, and it should measure 201°F at the core of the panettone, if lacking this tool, insert a wooden stick and make sure it is dry.
At the end of cooking, it is recommended to let them cool for at least 6 hours upside down, suspended, and impaled with skewers.
I help myself with two pots to support the skewers, or inside the pot always resting the skewers, but it takes less air… I let them cool this way.
