Panettone

Not sure what's happening but I seem to be posting a lot of  recipes at the moment. I'm sure it'll pass and I'll get back to other "stuff" around here...but baking makes me happy and that's what's going on at Number 10 at the moment

This weekend it was Panettone.

Panettone's a cross between bread and cake. It has eggs like a cake, but also has yeast, like bread...one thing they both have...deliciousness.

It's pretty easy, a little time consuming because you have to let it sit and rise...but it is worth the effort
I found a couple of recipes on-line and sort of merged them to come up with my own concoction

You'll need
_________

1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
5 tablespoons caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
500 gr plain flour
1/3 cup currants
1/3 cup sultanas
1/4 cup candied orange peel
1 tablespoon icing sugar

Preheat oven to 170c

In a medium bowl, combine yeast, water and caster sugar, then stir and cover and let stand for 10 minutes until it starts to foam. In another bowl, combine yoghurt, eggs, vanilla, zest and salt and mix together, then add to the yeast mixture. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it foams and bubbles

Stir in the flour, a little at a time until a dough starts to form into a manageable ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary, until dough is soft and pliable, but not sticky

Place the ball of dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel.

It'll take about an hour for the dough to double it's size

Lightly grease a round 20cm cake tin and place two layers of baking paper in the bottom, then in a small bowl, mix the dried fruit with the icing sugar. Punch down the dough, transfer to a floured surface again and knead in the fruit

Put the dough into the cake tin and let is rise again...for about half an hour

Then bake for about 35-40 minutes,

That's all there is to it really...easy but time consuming...absolutely delicious though if you like something a little different for breakfast...or afternoon tea for the matter.

The original recipe had the oven at 180 deg and a baking time of 45 minutes. I tried it a little lower as my oven is fan forced. I also tested the Panettone after 35 minutes and it was fine, although some of the fruit on the top was a little crispy, as you can see.

But as one of the recipes stated, the more you make it the better it'll be because you'll adapt it to suit your oven and taste.