Sourdough Panettone (Part 1 of 2)

I am finally attempting to make sourdough panettone . I’ve seen these and have wanted to do them… but I’ve never been confident enough to try.

There’s something about the specialness of this bread, the technique involved and the season that draws me to desiring to make this bread.

My hesitation is the challenge of the technique…

I believe that if anything goes sideways at any point, technique-wise, the bread won’t come out.

That said, there ALWAYS has to be a first attempt and I can choose to focus on being better /learning (or not).

This is my first attempt…

I made my “stiff” starter (40% hydration) and proved it in my box for about 6 hours for it to more than double in size.

I mixed my first dough and it wasn’t what I am comfortable making. It’s basically a brioche where bread and egg yolks have to be incorporated. I’ve just not been confident with my technique here.

I didn’t feel like this step went as well as I wanted. The stiff starter, flour and water was stiffer than the dough I usually make (lower hydration). I probably rushed trying to do the steps of incorporating the butter … probably should have waited to allow the gluten to relax. it was all lumpy and not as well mixed as I desired.

In any case, I got it “close” and put it into my proving box at 75°F and let it sit overnight. The picture above is the dough as it looked when I got up for coffee.

I prepped my ingredients and then mixed in strong bread flour (high protein content). Afterwards I added the other ingredients slowly. Getting the butter incorporated is the hardest thing for me… my technique certainly requires an upgrade.

Once mixed I divided the dough (more like a stiff batter) into two 1100g parts, placed into 1kg Panettone molds (think really large cupcakes) and placed into my proving box at 78°F for 18-24 hours of final proving before baking. Will just need to watch and bake when “the time is right”.