Panettone
My first trip to Italy was during the winter. We had spent Christmas in Paris, and then took a train south, where I first encountered the glorious Panettone.
We were traveling with a ham – yes a ham; in Spain we had purchased an entire Serrano ham, and had eaten ham through Spain, France, Switzerland, and Italy, where the ham came to an end. We were on a very tight budget, and the ham had seemed like a good idea – we had not truly figured out how to carry the thing, but somehow managed.
By the time we arrived in Italy, we were ready to eat something different. It seemed, to me, that every shop, in every city, had only two items for sale – the most beautiful canned peaches, displayed in the Italian equivalent of mason jars, and Panettone.
I had never been a fan of canned peaches, but walking by window after window, in city after city, of those glorious, perfectly plump, peaches, which seemed to magically float in delicate syrup, made me determined to eat canned peaches.
The Panettone, a large, round, cake like bread, which I can not adequately describe, stood out like mountains, meant to be conquered.
We had started our journey in Milan, gone to Florence, Venice, Rome, Naples, and finally, as we were leaving the country, headed toward Greece, we were invited to dinner, outside of Brindise. I remember nothing of what was served, except that after dinner, I was presented with a jar of peaches, and a loaf of Panettone – it was perfect! The dessert was not brought out in serving dishes, but rather served at the table. I watched the jar opened, the heavenly peaches appear, and the bread sliced, releasing this wonderful aroma, which I can still smell.
At Christmas, I will buy Panettone, in the grocery store, when they appear; but the one which I most look forward to, is the one Kate bakes, just me – this I do not share.
Ingredients:
1 envelope of Active Dry Yeast
½ cup of lukewarm Water
½ cup of lukewarm Milk
½ cup of melted Butter
1 teaspoon of ground Nutmeg
1 teaspoon of Salt
½ cup of Sugar
6 Egg Yolks
5 ½ -6 cups of Flour
½ of Citron
½ cup of Golden Raisins
2 tablespoons of Butter
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine yeast and water. Let it stand for 5 minutes, stir in milk, butter, nutmeg, salt, sugar, and egg yolks. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a floured surface for 5-6 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Knead in candied fruits and raisins. Return dough to a washed and dried bowl, and grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
Punch dough down and shape into a large, smooth ball. Grease an 8 inch spring form pan, and tie on a 3 inch high collar of several thickness of heavy duty foil. Grease foil, place ball of dough into pan and pat down. Brush with melted butter and cut a small cross about ½ inch deep, into top of loaf. Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degree oven for 1 – 1 ½ hours, until loaf is richly browned and sounds hollow when thumped. Cool in pan then remove foil and pan sides and bottom.
