How to make
Orange Panettone with an irresistible aroma of comfort.
For the preliminary sourdough, crumble the yeast into the slightly warmed milk with a pinch of sugar. Add a beaten egg and 6.5 oz (180 g) of flour to them. Stir or knead until smooth and leave the dough to rise, then cover with the remaining 6.5 oz (180 g) of flour.
Cover with cling film so it rests on the flour and refrigerate it overnight.
The next day, remove the yeast for 30 minutes at room temperature and continue with the panettone recipe.
In the bowl of a food processor, put the sourdough with the flour and add the remaining 200 g of flour for the main dough. Pour the eggs, lightly beaten with the sugar and orange peel.
Turn on the device to knead the dough for 6 minutes. Of course, you can also work by hand, but preferably with a dough spatula, as it will be quite sticky at first.
Kneading continues for another 5 minutes, during which time add the soft butter little by little until it is completely absorbed. If you knead by hand, it takes longer to get a smooth dough that is no longer as sticky.
Cover the bowl with a towel or cling film and leave it to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
Knead the risen dough for 1-2 minutes, you will notice that it is almost not sticky anymore, but if it is still too soft, sprinkle with flour or work it with greased hands.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle and spread it with orange jam - it should be thick and preferably have orange peels.
Fold it like a packet, press and fold the dough again several times. Divide it into two equal parts (700 grams each) and put it in panettone molds or improvised ones.
Panettone molds are about 5″ (13 cm) high and the diameter of the base is 6″ (15.5 cm). If you don't have any, you can improvise with a regular baking pan of this diameter and raise the high walls with baking paper. There are also special paper molds for Panettone.
Leave it to rise again, this time for longer - 2-3 hours, or until the dough goes above almost 1 cm from the tall mold.
Bake at 170°C for about 35 minutes at a low level in the over. Keep an eye on it and if it starts to darken a lot on top, cover it with aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes. I also turn the oven down to 320°F (160°C), just in case.
Cool the finished gorgeous orange panettone on a wire rack before slicing.
Enjoy!
