Panettone (Original recipe – using preferment or LM) Part one. Hearth Bread and Flatbread Discuss Panettone (Original recipe – using preferment or LM) Part one. in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; Christmas, time of joy, Noel, dried fruits, champagne and Panettone! There are many recipes of Panettone around there. I like ...

[arevalo53anos]

Christmas, time of joy, Noel, dried fruits, champagne and Panettone!
There are many recipes of Panettone around there. I like to believe that the one below is the ‘original’ stuff. Even if not, the results are always great and are celebrated by family and neighbors.
The main ingredient of this recipe is the preferment or Lievito Madre.
I used to use a Carl´s one, with mild flavor. These days I used a mixture of Carl´s, Camaldoli and Ischia.
The preferment need to be strongly alive. It is good to refresh it several and continued times before use. A boost with rye flour refreshment, followed by two or three wheat flour ones, works excellent to me.
The original recipe calls for strong flour to both the refresh and the Panettone, with higher W than 350 (specifically, Manitoba flour).
There is not such flour in my country, I used a W=260 plus gluten. (Gluten is not longer necessary if you have strong flour).
To the last PF refreshment, I use the ‘salami’ technique, increasing the flour quantities to have a biga (40% W, 60% F). This ‘dough’ is wrapped tight in a cotton sheet tied by a line. See pictures.
There will be two rests in the Panettone process; the first one will be at ambient temperature (or better, 24-26 ºC) in a quiet corner of your counter. Normally 12/14 hours. The dough will rise nearly four times. See pictures.
The second one is the key of the success. It does need to be at 30 ºC and humidity of 90% or higher! Four to six hours.
It is not time to despair, it is not so complicated. I use to boil water highly saturated with coarse salt and wait until the temperature is around the 40´s (ºC), Then, the pan with this hot and saturated water is placed in a corner of an icebox and the Panettone dough is going to rest on the opposite corner. See pictures.
The first time that I did that, I controlled the icebox temperature each hour. It is no longer necessary. It works well by the necessary rest. The dough will rise three times.
The last but not least tip is the rest after baking. The baked Panettone do will rest upper down, until cold.
When the Panettone is out of the oven, it will be turned down and hanged using two sharp pointing sticks. I use a double spit and the icebox or a high bucket to do that.
It needs to be hanged and not being in touch with the floor. This process stretch out the dough, resulting in a smooth and airy Panettone. See pictures

Recipe coming later in Part two of this thread

[arevalo53anos]

The pictures above were about the biga (LM or preferment) process and the first step of the first dough.
More pics.

Luis

[arevalo53anos]

The second and final dough is coming alive.
I cut off the dried fruit and the raisings because this is just a test to check the dough.
The recipe will have the correct quantities.
Let´s show a little more...

Luis

[arevalo53anos]

As you could see, the ice box did a good work rising the dough. Almost four times!
This was a problem because the Panettone grow to high, 40 centimeters or more, that I did not expected. Neither my home oven <G>.
I need to take off the grate and the upper part of the dough was at only 1 cm of the oven ceiling. It is why the Panettone is dark.
See the results following.

[arevalo53anos]

Oops, the pictures...

[arevalo53anos]

When looking at the pictures, please do not forguet that this was a test with just little fruit and in which I used a narrow cilinder of paper as a mould.
I am happy with the results.
To have a real ideia, follow five pictures of the last Chistmas, just to know what I was aiming for.

Luis

[christo]

wow Luis!!!

I think I can smell it from here and it's wonderful!!!

I've always been afraid of the doorstop fruitcake so common in the US, but this looks great!

Christo

[Frances]

Luis, that's really cool, it looks delicious! Good idea with the high humidity rise there.

...but where's the recipe?

[arevalo53anos]

Frances:


It’s coming soon.
I need to translate it...from Italian to English language...
In addition, I am a Spanish speaker... that lives in a Brazilian environment...
So figure!
Asap.

Luis