Grandma DiLaura's Panettone
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Author Notes: We don’t deviate much from the past when it comes to the DiLaura Christmas morning menu. Since my earliest memories of Santa Claus and pink bikes with baskets, Christmas morning always starts with a buttered slice of my Grandma DiLaura’s toasted panettone. The smell of sweet anise wafting from downstairs is a sign that ‘ole St. Nick has done his job. This family edible heirloom originated in the late 1800s in Florence and was passed down through word of mouth, until my grandmother finally jotted down the ingredients. Once a year she pulled out her big wooden spoon and lovingly made a generous batch by hand, sharing a loaf with family and friends – a true symbol of Christmas. - cdilaura
Makes 16 pounds of bread (about 8 loaves)
- 5 cups whole milk
- 4 cups sugar, plus 1/4 cup for yeast
- 1 pound unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup shortening (or use all butter)
- 1 teaspoon anise oil (if you can't find oil, substitute 4 teaspoons anise extract)
- 9 packets non-instant yeast
- 5 pounds all-purpose flour, plus 5 cups (plus 4-5 more cups for kneading)
- 6 teaspoons salt
- 8 large eggs
- 15 ounces golden raisins (soaked in hot water to plump if dry)
- 30 ounces dark raisins (soaked in hot water to plump if dry)
- 1/2 pound pine nuts
- 1 egg yolk, plus 1 tablespoon water for brushing tops
- In a medium saucepan, scald milk with 4 cups sugar, stirring often. Then add butter and shortening (or all butter), and melt, stirring often.
- Remove from the stove and add anise oil or extract to milk/butter/sugar mixture. Let cool slightly.
- Dissolve yeast and 1/4 cup sugar in enough warm water to cover (1 1/2 to 2 cups) and let double in volume.
- In a large bowl, mix 5lbs, plus 5 cups flour and salt. Add raisins and pine nuts.
- Add slightly cooled milk to flour mixture. Add eggs and mix together with large wooden spoon. Add yeast mixture and mix well. Grease your hands and mix and knead for about 5 to 10 minutes in the bowl (adding 4 to 5 cups flour as needed). Dough will be very sticky.
- Grease sides of bowl, cover with plastic wrap and towels, and let dough rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled.
- Grease loaf pans -- we use four large (9 5/8 x 5 1/4 x 2 3/4) and four small (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 5/8). Lightly squeeze to release any air bubbles (important if you don't want holes in your bread) and shape dough and put in pans. Cover with greased plastic wrap and towels and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.
- Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes.
- If using multiple oven racks, rotate loaves, then lower oven to 325 F and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top is a medium golden color.
- After bread is baked, brush tops with egg yolk and water mixture and return to oven for about 5 minutes. Using a thermometer test the internal temperature -- the bread is down when it reads 190 F.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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5 months ago Victoria G
Well, it's love! Our family recipe has citron and glazed cherries, so next time, I'll try adding these to your recipe next time It's lovely with a perfect texture. And easy enough! Thank you!
5 months ago student epicure
Excellent! Best panettone recipe I've ever made. I could not find anise oil or anise extract at Whole Foods, so used toasted fennel seeds and lemon extract, with delicious, though untraditional, results.
5 months ago cdilaura
Christina is the Head of Commerce for Food52.
That is so nice to hear! I love that you substituted toasted fennel seeds and lemon extract -- sounds delicious! I will definitely try that in a non-Christmas batch. Thanks for sharing.
5 months ago GregoryBPortland
The best panettone's have the texture of a light challah, though it's a bit smoother. They are slightly sweet with the fruit supply the rest, and they are incredibly tender. They make excellent French toast, as long as the slices hold together. I've allowed sliced and cubed panettone get stale and turned that into bread pudding, which is very rich. As far as other containers, I suppose just about anything will do--coffee cans for small ones, or souffle dishes for something a bit larger. But this recipe bakes them in loaf pans, something I've not seen and they look charming. That appeals to me, since the rounds ones make them seem more commercial and less like homemade.
5 months ago Victoria G
I've always wondered about the Italian traditions with panettone. Our family's recipe include citron and glazed cherries. And again, more dense than the store bought version. It may be a regional shift. The recipe came from my great-grandfather's Chicago bakery.
I'm enjoying exploring this yummy bread. Cubed panettone for bread pudding sounds delightful.
4 months ago Archizoom
you'll get more fluff and moist with a high protein flour and egg yolks. this one probably needs more eggs. knead the dough first before you fold the butter in. fat substances hamper gluten formation.
5 months ago Victoria G
The recipe and the story melts my heart! This is very similar to the panettone my family has made since I was little. And I had the same Christmas morning experience, toasted and buttered. Our difference was the pan, we always made rounded loaves on a baking sheet. Two big or four small. I can't wait to give your recipe a try. Ours yielded a more dense bread and I've always heard comments about how panettone should be like a light cake. (A la store bought bread.) Perhaps yours will be somewhere in the middle. Thanks so much.
5 months ago cdilaura
Christina is the Head of Commerce for Food52.
Thanks Victoria, I can't wait to hear how this compares to your family recipe!
5 months ago GregoryBPortland
I have no issues with shortening. My mother's pie crusts were shortening-based and they were delicious. Ma is stubborn about margarine and shortening. She claims she prefers the taste of margarine (which is why I call her stubborn--nobody should prefer the taste of margarine). Anywy, I'm always curious about the science of a recipe. One other question: Could you bake this dough in the standard waxed paper panettone forms that you see with commercial versions?
5 months ago cdilaura
Christina is the Head of Commerce for Food52.
I'm sure you could use those panettone forms -- we never have, but that's only because we use the same metal bread pans my grandmother used for years. I don't know how the waxed paper vs. the metal affects cooking time, but if you take the temperature with a cooking thermometer to make sure the center is fully baked (190 F) you should be fine.
5 months ago GregoryBPortland
I've been looking for a big holiday "project" and fruitcake was never an option. I've been reading panettone recipes for years now and never have gathered the courage to do this. After reading this recipe, I thik I've finally fond my big holiday baking project. I love panettone with orange peel, so I'll use that. But I'll follow the rest of the recipe. Question--why the use of shortening (even though the recipe says all butter is fine)? Thanks.
5 months ago cdilaura
Christina is the Head of Commerce for Food52.
I'm thrilled that our family recipe has inspired your big holiday project! To be honest, I don't know why she used shortening. In fact, she wouldn't even measure it out, but would take her wooden spoon and toss in a scoop, but my mom and I estimated it's about 1/4 cup. We still include it when we make our panettone, but I realize not everyone likes to bake with shortening, so we added the note that you could use all butter if you prefer.
5 months ago meagan.lane
maybe a stupid question - can I scale this recipe down (by mmm, about 75%)? 8 loaves is wayyy too much for this holiday season!
5 months ago cdilaura
Christina is the Head of Commerce for Food52.
Meagan, I think you could easily scale this down. When the Food52 team made it for the photo shoot they cut the recipe in half with no problem. The bread freezes really well (wrap in foil and put in a ziplock) so if you do have extras that you don't want to give away you can put in the hard work now and enjoy the bread later -- Easter or a rainy day?