Sourdough Panettone

Method

1. Build the stiff levain (day 1, morning). Mix the 30 g starter with the 45 g warm water, add the 90 g flour and knead for a minute into a firm, smooth ball. Put it in a jar, mark the level, cover and keep at 26–28°C. It is ready when it has roughly tripled and the top is domed, usually 8–10 hours.
2. Mix the first dough (day 1, evening). In a stand mixer with the dough hook, break the levain up in the 90 g water. Add the 200 g flour, 60 g sugar and 2 yolks and mix on low for 4 minutes, then on medium for 6–10 minutes until the dough is smooth and pulls cleanly from the bowl. With the mixer running, add the 70 g butter a spoonful at a time, letting each disappear before the next. Keep going until a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through without tearing.
3. Rise overnight. Put the dough in a buttered, straight-sided container, mark the level and leave at 24–26°C for 10–14 hours, until it has tripled and the top is just domed. If it is short of that in the morning, give it longer somewhere warmer. The same evening, stir the sultanas and peel with the rum or orange juice, cover and leave to soak.
4. Mix the second dough (day 2, morning). Return the first dough to the mixer with the 60 g flour and mix on low for 3 minutes until it comes back together. Add the 50 g sugar in two goes, then the honey, then the 3 yolks one at a time, each fully absorbed before the next. Add the salt, vanilla and zests and mix on medium until glossy and elastic again, 10–15 minutes. Add the 80 g butter gradually as before, and a little of the water only if the dough feels very tight. Keep the dough below 27°C: if the bowl feels warm, chill it for 10 minutes and carry on.
5. Add the fruit. Pat the soaked fruit dry on kitchen paper and mix it in on the lowest speed for about a minute, just until it is spread through.
6. Rest and shape. Tip the dough onto a lightly buttered worktop, cover and rest 40 minutes. With buttered hands, round it into a tight ball by turning it against the worktop, rest 20 minutes, round it once more and drop it into the paper case. It should come about a third of the way up.
7. Final prove. Cover and leave at 26–28°C until the top of the dome is about 2 cm below the rim of the case. This usually takes 5–8 hours, longer in a cool room. This is the stage not to rush.
8. Bake. Heat the oven to 175°C (155°C fan), gas mark 4, with a shelf low enough to leave room for the rise. Uncover the panettone for the last 15 minutes of proving so the skin dries a little, cut a shallow cross on top with a razor blade and set the 10 g butter in the middle. Bake for 50–60 minutes, laying foil loosely over the top once it is deep brown (usually after about 25 minutes). It is done when a probe in the centre reads 92–94°C.
9. Hang it upside down. Straight from the oven, push the two skewers right through the paper case, parallel and about 2 cm above the base. Turn the panettone over and suspend it by the skewers between two stacks of books or two tall pans. Leave it hanging for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight; without this the soft crumb sinks into itself as it cools.
10. Store. Once it is completely cold, slide out the skewers and seal the panettone in a large food bag. It keeps well for about a week, and in our experience the second day is the best.

Tips

• Check your starter first. All this sugar and butter is heavy going for wild yeast. Before you start, your starter should be doubling within 4–6 hours of a feed. If it is slower, give it two or three days of regular feeds somewhere warm.
• Use the strongest flour you can find. Look for 13–14% protein on the bag. Ordinary plain flour will not hold the rise.
• Watch the dough temperature. Above about 28°C the butter starts to melt out and the dough turns greasy; below 24°C the rises crawl. A cheap probe thermometer earns its keep here.
• Keep the oven door shut for the first 30 minutes of baking, while the dome is still setting.
• If your first one is a little short, it will still be lovely toasted with butter, and the second one is usually noticeably taller.

Want something more forgiving? Our sourdough stollen is a firmer dough and a far gentler first Christmas bake. The full line-up is in our Christmas sourdough recipes.