As all of you know, I am a hard core Italian-American! And one of my Dad's favorite things to eat (only during Christmas) is Panettone. He normally buys it, and his wise words of advice are...
"Don't buy it from William's Sonoma because it cost a fortune and it taste the exact same as when you buy it from Costco or the grocery store. You know it all comes from the same place!"
So I thought, screw buying it, why not try and make it!!
P.S. If your not quite sure of what it is, it is like a sponge/angel food cake with fruit in it. Kind of like a really fluffy Italian fruit cake :)
This is Mario Batali's recipe from Food Network. It is pretty easy and it came out pretty good!
Panettone!! Oh yeah!
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup currants, soaked in warm water for 1 hour and drained (you can sub Raisins here if you like. I am not a big fan of currants, so this is what I did!)
2 oranges, zested
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Butter and flour an 8-inch round deep cake pan or panettone mold. In a mixer, cream the butter with the eggs and egg yolks until pale yellow, 3 to 4 minutes.
Replace the beater with the dough hook attachment, and with the mixer running, add half of the flour. Add half the milk and mix for 1 minute. Add the remaining flour followed by the remaining milk and all of the sugar and mix well. Continue mixing and kneading with the dough hook until the dough becomes dry enough to handle. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and sprinkle with the currants, orange zest, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Knead by hand for 5 to 10 minutes.
Replace the beater with the dough hook attachment, and with the mixer running, add half of the flour. Add half the milk and mix for 1 minute. Add the remaining flour followed by the remaining milk and all of the sugar and mix well. Continue mixing and kneading with the dough hook until the dough becomes dry enough to handle. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and sprinkle with the currants, orange zest, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Knead by hand for 5 to 10 minutes.
Place the dough in the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The top will be quite cracked. Remove from the oven, invert onto a rack and cool. Slice into wedges to serve.
