NATURALLY LEAVENED CHRISTMAS PANETTONE

Steps:

• This recipe will take two days plus any sourdough starter preparation time and will make two 500g panettones with a little dough left over (that can make one or more mini versions). The times listed here are the ones I use/observe. Your times may vary due to differences in starter strength and proofing environment.
• DAY 1 at 8:00 AM
• Refresh the sourdough starter
• Mix (by hand or with stand mixer) 60g of an active 50% hydration sourdough starter with 30g purified water until the starter is softened and absorbs most of the water (about 3 minutes). Add 60g of bread flour to the previous mix and stir to combine. Once the mixture comes together into a rough dough ball, turn out onto a clean surface and knead until it forms into a smooth, homogenous ball, around 10 minutes. Place refreshed starter into a container with straight sides, mark the original dough level and place in a warm spot to rise, preferably between 83F and 85F.
• DAY 1 at 10:00 AM
• Prepare the aromatic mix
• Wash the orange and lemon with a vegetable/fruit cleaner, rinse and dry. Remove the zest with a microplane or similar zesting tool, taking care to remove only the outer skin, not the white pith. Mix the zest with the honey and vanilla extract in a bowl. Let it sit out, covered, at room temperature for around 24 hours.
• DAY 1 at 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM
• Refresh the sourdough starter again
• The starter should have tripled in volume since the last refreshment. Refresh using the same method as in the previous refreshment. Discard any unused starter from the last refreshment or save it to make bread, waffles, scones, etc.
• DAY 1 at 4:30 PM
• Prepare the dried fruit
• Measure out the raisins, golden raisins and dried cranberries, each in a separate container with a tight fitting lid. Add equal parts rum and water (or just water) to cover the raisins and golden raisins and stir. Add equal parts brandy and water (or just water) to cover the dried cranberries and stir. Let them sit out, covered, at room temperature for 4-5 hours.
• DAY 1 at 6:00 PM
• Start softening the butter
• Remove the butter from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
• DAY 1 at 8:00 PM
• Prepare the First Dough
• Add the flour, sugar and room temperature water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. If you made your own high-gluten flour, remember to only use 240g of it here. Mix on low speed until the dough just comes together, around 3 minutes. Although this dough starts out very stiff, you'll eventually add a lot of egg yolks and butter, which will soften it considerably.
• Switch to a dough hook attachment and continue mixing on low/medium low speed for another 10 or 15 minutes, until the dough is smooth.
• Then start adding the softened butter, a little at a time, waiting until it is completely absorbed before adding more. This will take some time. You may have to switch back and forth between the hook and the paddle to mix the dough effectively.
• Make sure you do not over work the dough any time during the mixing by checking its temperature frequently. If the dough temperature reaches 79°F (26°C), place the mixer bowl, dough and hook in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool it down before resuming.
• After the butter is fully incorporated, start adding half of the egg yolks, a little at a time, waiting until they are fully absorbed before adding more. Once they are incorporated, add the sourdough starter, broken up into a dozen pieces or so, and then add the rest of the egg yolks, again a little at a time until fully absorbed.
• Continue mixing until the gluten is fully formed and the dough is smooth and shiny in appearance. The dough needs to pass the "windowpane test" before you are done. Take a piece of the dough and stretch it out until you can practically see through it. If it tears, continue mixing, for a bit longer, perhaps at the next higher speed. The dough ball should pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl and wrap around the hook when it is done. The dough processing may take 30-45 minutes or more to complete.
• When the first dough passes the windowpane test, place it in a large container with straight sides that can accommodate triple the current volume of the dough and cover it with a well-fitting cover or with plastic wrap. Mark the initial dough level so you can tell when it has tripled. If you are using a covered bowl without straight sides, take a small piece of dough and put it in a straight-sided glass, cover it with cling wrap and mark its level. You will use this piece to determine when the dough has tripled in volume. Place the dough (and glass with dough ball, if used) in a warm place to rise for around 12 hours, preferably at around 85F.
• DAY 1 at 10:00 PM
• Drain the dried fruit
• After completing the first dough, drain the raisins, golden raisins and dried cranberries and gently squeeze out the extra liquid. Distribute them evenly on a cookie sheet lined with several layers of paper towels. Cover with several more layers of paper towels and another cookie sheet with a few weights on top to help pull any extra liquid out of the rehydrated dried fruit. (Alternatively, you can just roll the dried fruits up in paper towels.) Let them sit out overnight at room temperature.
• DAY 2 at 8:00 AM
• Start softening the butter
• Remove the butter from the refrigerator and let it come to room temp.
• Note: Check on the first dough to see how it is rising. Depending on the temperature, it could take anywhere from 8 to 15 hours to triple in volume. You may have to adjust the times listed below accordingly, depending on your rising environment.
• DAY 2 at 10:00 AM
• If the dough has not tripled in volume, wait until it does. Once the dough has tripled in volume, proceed with this step:
• Prepare second dough
• Place your first dough, mixer bowl and hook attachment in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool down while you measure out the ingredients.
• After measuring the ingredients and cooling the dough, bowl and hook; add all of the first dough, the flour and the aromatic mix to the mixer bowl and mix on low speed with the dough hook until all the ingredients are incorporated, about 10 minutes. You can increase the mixing speed a little near the end of that time. The dough should already wrap around the dough hook and should continue doing so throughout the mixing process after new ingredients are absorbed.
• Add the sugar a little at a time, waiting until it is fully absorbed before adding more.
• After adding all the sugar, add about 1/3 of the egg yolks, a little at a time, until they're fully absorbed
• Then add the salt and another 1/3 of the egg yolks, mixing until fully absorbed.
• Add the softened butter, a little at a time, waiting until each dose is fully absorbed before adding more.
• Add the rest of the egg yolks and continue mixing until fully absorbed.
• Add the water a little at a time and mix for another 5-10 minutes. Note that it might seem a bit scary to add more liquid to the dough, since it is already very soft. I have reduced the amount of water in this recipe from the amount in the original recipe, because I was frankly too scared to add more water! Follow your own judgement if you are too nervous to add more water. However, while using high gluten flour, the amount of water I list above has always worked fine for me.
• After the water is fully absorbed, the dough should be able to pass the windowpane test. If not, mix for another few minutes.
• After the dough has passed the windowpane test, add the dried fruit in several doses until it is fully incorporated. The resulting dough will be soft, elastic and very shiny.
• Transfer the dough to a container, cover tightly and let it rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• DAY 2 at 11:30 AM
• Pre-shaping, Shaping and Final Proof
• After the resting period, turn the dough out onto a clean working surface. It will help prevent any sticking if you wipe a thin coating of soft butter on the working surface and on your hands before this step. Let the dough sit uncovered for 15 minutes. Then measure out two - 550g pieces of dough and set them on the greased working surface. Divide any remaining dough into pieces of about 50g each to make mini panettones.
• Form each piece of dough into a ball, by pulling the outside edge of your right hand across the top of the dough from left to right and around the right side of the dough in a clockwise direction. Then use your left hand to perform a similar but opposite motion pushing from right to left across the bottom of the dough and around the left side, again in a clockwise direction. Repeat this motion several times and the dough will form a ball with a taught surface. Italian bakers call this move la pirlatura. See the post above for a couple of videos demonstrating the process.
• Form all of the other pieces of dough into balls in a similar fashion and then let them rest for 15 more minutes, uncovered.
• This is an ideal time to arrange your panettone molds on a baking sheet and pre-skewer them: two skewers running parallel close to the base of the molds.
• After 15 minutes, for each dough ball, perform the pirlatura again and immediately scoop it up with a dough scraper and transfer it into one of the appropriately sized paper panettone molds.
• Place all of the filled panettone molds onto a rimmed baking sheet.
• Cover each mold with a plastic film or plastic bag, and place the entire baking sheet with molds to rise for 8-12 hours in a warm spot, ideally 83-85F.
• DAY 2 at 7:00 PM or later, depending on dough expansion
• Score and top the panettones, and bake them
• When the dough reaches about an inch below the top of the panettone molds at the edges, turn on the oven and heat to 330F.
• As soon as the dough rises to about 3/4 inch below the top of the panettone molds at the edges, uncover the molds and leave the dough open to the air to form a thin skin.
• When the dough rises to about ½ inch below the top of the molds and is cresting just above the mold in the center, it is time to score the top of each panettone with a cross using a razor blade or a very sharp knife.
• If possible, peel the dough skin (four triangles created by the score) back a bit, starting from the center. Place small pats of softened butter on the exposed dough and then return the flaps to their original positions.
• Before placing the baking sheet in the oven, make sure you arrange the molds to maximize the space between them, since the tops can mushroom outward as they bake.
• Bake the large panettones for 50 minutes at 330F or until the internal temperature reaches 201F. The mini panettone only needs around 40 minutes to bake, so remove that from the oven when it's done, leaving the larger panettones in place. Try not to disturb the large ones too much or slam the oven door because they can and will fall just like a soufflé!
• DAY 2 Immediately after Baking
• Hang the panettones upside down to cool
• Immediately after taking the panettones out of the oven, push two skewers through the base of each panettone mold, if you did not pre-load the skewers, and turn them upside down, hanging them between two boxes or inside a tall container that can accommodate their size. The panettone crumb is very delicate and will collapse under its own weight as it cools if it is not inverted.
• Leave them inverted for at least 3 to 4 hours or overnight to cool. Then you can remove the skewers and enjoy a fresh slice of homemade panettone!
• These panettone will keep well stored in a closed bag for at least a week. (Although ours never last that long!) They also freeze very well.