PAN CANASTA RECIPE – TRICKS TO SLICE AND FILL IT BEST

• Activating the Yeast: Slightly warm the milk (it should be warm, not hot). Dissolve the fresh yeast in it and add one teaspoon of the total sugar. Let rest for 5-10 minutes until a light foam forms.
  Dough (Stand Mixer): In the bowl of the stand mixer, mix the flours, the remaining sugar and the honey (if used). Add the eggs lightly beaten and the milk with the yeast.
  Mixing: Knead with the dough hook at low speed. When the dough starts to come together, add the salt and continue working.
  Adding the Butter: Add the softened butter (room temperature) in pieces, a little at a time, waiting for each piece to be completely absorbed before adding the next.
  Gluten Development: Work the dough for at least 15-20 minutes total, until it is smooth, elastic and no longer sticks to the bowl (well developed).
  First Rise: Shape into a ball, place it in a lightly buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place (oven off with the light on) for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in volume.

• Deflating: Gently turn the risen dough onto the work surface and deflate it, giving it a light fold.
  Shaping: Shape the dough into a regular ball.
  In the Pan: Butter and flour a 1 kg panettone mold (or use a paper mold). Place the dough ball inside.
  Second Rise: Cover the mold with plastic wrap (or a damp cloth) and let rise again in a warm place for another 1-2 hours, or until the top has almost reached the edge of the mold.

• Preheating: Preheat the oven to 356°F (conventional).
  Baking: Bake the Gastronomic Panettone for about 40-45 minutes.
  Check: If the surface browns too quickly, cover it with foil halfway through baking. The panettone is done when a long skewer inserted in the center comes out dry.
  Cooling: Remove from the oven and let the panettone cool. It is essential that it is completely cool before attempting to slice it. The recommendation is to let it cool completely on a rack or even wrapped in a clean cloth to keep it soft.

  

• The correct thickness of the slices is 3/8 in: if they are too thin the little sandwiches are too delicate, if too thick the filling is lost. From a whole panettone you should get about 8 slices that can be filled (plus the decorative top).THE SLICE-SAVING TRICK! To prevent the panettone from collapsing or the layers from shifting when slicing into wedges, pierce it vertically with 4 wooden skewers before you start cutting. This will hold it steady during assembly. Use a long, sharp knife and mark the outer layers first as a guideline.

• How to FILL the gastronomic panettone: The Golden Rule of the Layers!
  
  Filling every layer makes the panettone impossible to eat because the layers don’t separate properly.
  THE GOLDEN RULE: It is essential to always alternate filled and empty layers. The correct procedure is: pan brioche, filling, pan brioche – UNFILLED LAYER – pan brioche, filling, pan brioche and so on. The unfilled layer is what allows you to separate the small sandwiches without problems.
  Order: I usually start with firmer mixtures at the bottom and finish with softer ones on top to ensure greater stability for the panettone.

• It may sound trivial but slice thickness matters: if too thin the sandwiches are fragile and may break; if too thick the little sandwich will be mostly bread and the filling layers will be lost.

  The correct slice thickness is 3/8 in, so from a gastronomic panettone you should obtain about 8 slices (so 4 fillings) + the top dome which is decorative and not filled.

• To cut it use a long, sharp knife and first make small marks all around the panettone to create cutting guidelines. Once the layers are cut and only after filling them, the gastronomic panettone should be cut into wedges to form many triangular sandwiches.

  First I recommend piercing the panettone from top to bottom with 4 wooden skewers so it doesn’t collapse once divided into wedges. Then remove the dome and, starting from the center of a slice, divide it into 6 parts: you should thus obtain about 24 small sandwiches.

• I don’t know about you, but the first time I made a gastronomic panettone I made the mistake of filling every single layer … it was definitely delicious but impossible to pick up and eat.

  In fact, when filling it is important to leave some layers empty to separate the little sandwiches. To be clear, the correct procedure is: pan brioche, filling, pan brioche – unfilled layer – pan brioche, filling, pan brioche – unfilled layer, and so on.

• The empty space should not be spread with sauces or anything else, otherwise you won’t be able to separate the sandwiches from each other. Obviously, to fill you’ll start from the base disk and fill it with the chosen mixture, then continue up with the other layers. I usually start with firmer mixtures and finish with softer ones so my panettone remains more stable.

  Once you have finished filling the panettone place the dome back on, tie it with a pretty colored ribbon and put it in a prominent place in the center of your table. If you prepared it in advance, wrap it with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator. In that case, take it out to return to room temperature before serving (about 30 minutes).

• And now here are 30 quick ideas to fill it.

• Mortadella slices with Philadelphia cream cheese and chopped pistachios. Or make a mortadella mousse (for the recipe click here Mortadella mousse ready in 5 minutes) and add chopped toasted pistachios.

  Prosciutto crudo, sliced with robiola cheese and sweet-and-sour onions.

  Roast beef, thinly sliced with marinated artichokes in oil (for the recipe click here Perfect roast beef recipe).

  Cooked ham with mushroom pâté and slices of Emmental.

  Salami and stracchino cheese

  Speck and brie

  Prosciutto crudo and squacquerone cheese

  Cooked ham and smoked scamorza

  Bresaola, goat cheese and arugula

  Chicken roasted and shredded, tomato and tuna-style sauce

• 1.      Smoked salmon with cottage cheese, chives and arugula.

  2.      Canned tuna made into a mousse with roasted peppers;

  3.      Smoked tuna slices with fresh goat cheese and capers.

  4.      Shrimp sautéed in brandy with julienned zucchini flavored with curry.

  5.      Smoked swordfish with robiola cheese, chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts.

  6.      Lumpfish roe or caviar with butter.

  7.      Tonnato sauce (for the sauce recipe click here Tonnato sauce – many ways to prepare it) and salad.

  8.      Shrimp, cocktail sauce (for the recipe click here Cocktail sauce) and lettuce.

  9.      Pan-seared shrimp with chopped garlic and parsley on a bed of hummus (for the recipe click here Homemade chickpea hummus with tahini).

  10. Bernese sauce and mini fish burgers (for the recipe click here Fish Burger

• 1.      Scrambled eggs with spring onion and mayonnaise.

  2.      Cannellini bean hummus with oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes.

  3.      Fresh spinach sautéed and brie finely sliced by hand.

  4.      Roasted eggplant with goat cheese, sliced tomatoes and basil.

  5.      Olive pâté and Philadelphia. You can either mix the spreadable cheese with the pâté to make it creamier or create two separate layers—Philadelphia first and olive pâté on top.

  6.      With sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese.

  7.      Gorgonzola and walnuts.

  8.      Mascarpone, brie and pistachios

  9.      Mushroom pâté and sliced scamorza cheese

  10. Artichoke pâté and Parmesan shavings.