Sunday, January 18, 2015

Golden Orange Panettone with Chocolate Sauce

January 19, 2015


That's a lovely loaf of bread, isn't it?  I have to give 100% credit to Rose for this one, because I did nothing but follow directions.  Well, in order to follow them, I had to read them 6 or 7 times, and the recipe for Golden Orange Panettone isn't exactly a page-turner.  But I did eventually go from plowing through a bewildering muddle of words into understanding the plan.  And I did order some items ahead of time, so there were no last-minute worries.  And I have a large bottle of Boyajian orange oil, which I plan to bequeath to my daughters, so they can fight over who has to keep a bottle of orange oil in their kitchen until it's their turn to include it in their estate plans.  Maybe I'll tell them they can use it to make cocktails.  Maybe I'm right.


This is the biga, which you make about a week before you want the bread.  If you are really freaked out about taking a week to make bread, you could easily adapt the recipe to cut out all the overnights, just by using more yeast.  (You'll notice that there's less than one teaspoon yeast in this recipe, while other, faster recipes use 4 teaspoons or even more).  But if a lot of the rising time is in the refrigerator, it's not going to matter much if it's in the refrigerator for two hours or two days.  (This is my theory; Rose is no doubt more exacting.)



This is the flour mixture over the dough starter.  The recipe warns you that "the dough starter will bubble through the flour blanket in places."  I love this step because you can see how alive the starter is.  If your mind runs that way, you may start to worry that the starter could overtake your house, but I think it usually doesn't.



At some point in this week of bread-making, you'll want to spend a few minutes getting the fruit ready.  As long as you've already bought (or made!) the candied orange peel, this is easy.  And a bit discombobulating.  And I bought a little bottle of orange oil (that came in a great big box)--after I bought it I discovered that I need only 1/4 teaspoon of oil for the recipe.

I think if I remember, which is unlikely, I'm going to start using it as a substitute for grated orange peel, which one doesn't always have on hand, and which is not consistent in flavor anyway, ranging from bitter to tasteless.


Mix the dough.  This is such a wonderful dough.  Rose says it's smooth, shiny, soft, and sticky.  That pretty much sums it up.



The fruit is sprinkled on top of the dough, which is then stretched and turned to enclose the raisins and oranges.


Then comes a lot of rising, pressing, turning, resting.  I don't think I got pictures of every step, and I don't think it's important to document it all anyway.  (Sorry, Woody).  What's important is that it's such a joy to work with this dough.  I think you could pat Panettone dough on your face and call it a facial--old-world tradition!!  The secret to Italian women's flawless skin!!  Sometimes I wish I didn't have so many stupid ideas and had just one or two good ones instead.



At the end of the second rising.  As you can see, I did not use a plastic freezer bag.  I feel guilty when I use plastic (although not rationally guilty since I used plastic wrap instead).  Anyway, you can see how light and spongy it is.


It took at least 5 hours for it to rise in my not-very-warm kitchen to the top of the paper pan.  I was beginning to wonder if I'd be able to go to bed Friday night, but I got it into the oven around 7:00.


I think it looks very beautiful, especially with the X on top, snipped in with a pair of small, sharp scissors.  Almost done--just let it cool and wrap it, letting it mellow overnight.



I loved the texture, the color, the smell--everything about the bread.  But I was going to serve it to about a dozen people--the real test.  I wasn't sure that people would even be interested because of the unreasonable hatred that people seem to have for candied fruit.  But as they walked in, they were impressed, especially as I drizzled on the chocolate sauce.  And they all thought it was delicious, tender, and fresh-tasting.


Paper plates at this casual gathering.  It would look even prettier on good china.  The chocolate seemed like gilding the lily to me.  My second-day toast with butter was much better, I thought (although it's such a rich bread you do have to take care that the edges don't burn).  I'm surprised to hear myself say this, and I usually like the mix of chocolate and orange flavors, but in this case I thought the chocolate overpowered the delicate bread.  Slice it, toast it, butter it generously--it's perfection for a midwinter breakfast or afternoon tea.

25 comments:

  1. oh my goodness Marie, what a lovely golden raisin orange panettone it looks so delicious I can smell it from here you did a great job love your posting and your pictures too.

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    1. Hi Marie, I will be baking the panettone at some point today.

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  2. I like your plan of using orange oil instead of zest. How much are you going to use for the substitution? Your panettone looks really good. I like how evenly distributed your candied oranges and raisins are (no I'm not jealous at all *grin*). I used the same gallon size zip lock bag to cover the panettone for rising so I don't waste another plastic wrap.

    I miss JJ and his comments...

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  3. I skipped the oil and instead grated a whole orange and dumped the zest.. it was totally worth it. I agree with you, I had figure the chocolate would cancel out the orange flavor, So instead I skipped it. Tom drenched his with orange honey.. and I used mine as dunkin' in my morning latte.

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    1. The orange zest sounds AMAZING! Coming over to check out your bread :)

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  4. Jenn,
    JJ will return. I didn't think he had the patience for a week-long project!

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  5. Monica,
    It sounds like it's really easy to OD on the orange oil. 1/4 tsp of the oil or the zest of a whole orange!

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    1. I figure as much. I was happy with the zest :) But, if and that is a BIG IF, I do this again, I'm will use chocolate chucks.. or even almond paste.. YUM

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  6. Your's is the perfect color! Have you ever had Panettone bread pudding? It's amAAAzing but there's no way I could do that with this bread after so much work.

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  7. My grandmother had a system of stickers on the bottom of things she was bequeathing to people. Sounds like you need a sticker for the orange oil.

    Your panettone looks lovely. I'm wondering how you got 12 slices plus some left over? Mine was fairly small.

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  8. Such beautiful panettone. Looks wonderful and beautiful crumb. I still have 2 more mini ones in the freezer.. Now i have to order some orange oil from amazon too..

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  9. Your panettone looks perfect! I like to toast it too - such a lovely bread.

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  10. Panettone facial, I love it. Great post, Marie.

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  11. You dough looks beautiful Marie. It's a testament to your perfect looking Panettone. The pics are great and so was your write up. About the chocolate: I had the same feeling. I found a little goes a very long way, but it's not really necessary.

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  12. I too agree that the chocolate would overpower the subtle taste of the orange, so I skipped it. Toasting it just kicks it up several notches for me. The crispy exterior against the soft interior, and the heightened aromatic profile when warm, is just perfect! Your crumb looks really good.

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  13. pannettone facial! i think you should explore this more and let us know about it. your baked bread looks perfect.

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  14. Your dough looks so luscious, Marie.

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  15. Marie, your panettone looks so good! I love this recipe, but it's so involved that I will save it for the holidays.

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  16. Gorgeous! Your bread came out perfectly - so high and the crumb looks really tender and light. I didn't make the break this week because I dislike panettone (or at least I thought I did - yours looks amazing!). However I may try it with different add-ins...I just can't commit to the candied fruit for some reason and tend to avoid it at all costs :) Off to check out everyone else's bread :)

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  17. Marie, the panettone is awesome love the crumbs it is delicious without the chocolate and also great as toast, this is a keeper.

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  18. Marie! i want a second version of my book--which would be all your photos and comments on each recipe. maybe Jim can print one out at the end since he has all the photos?!

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    1. hello Rose, As I am an Italian born Sicilian I think this panettone is wonderful ,absolutely a keeper and I would make this over again and again" very tasty too and delicious".

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  19. Rosa, from one Rosa to another (my husband calls me Rosa) that is a profound compliment!

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    1. that is so sweet Rose that your husband cause you Rosa to me Rosa and Rose is the same because my mother sometimes calls me rose that is a lovely name as you know my ,grandmother rest her soul in peace she live till 96 years old, believe it or not she was a very strong woman and would not take no for an answer of anything, I was named after my grandmother.

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