I love Panettone and it has long been a staple cake in our house hold. However, the strange thing is, we never buy them, they just seem to turn up at any family celebration as if by magic. I think it’s because Ethiopians don’t really have traditional sweets, we tend to celebrate by cutting bread rather than cake and Panetonne is a kind of happy medium. We obviously have the Italians to thank for spicing up our dessert time; I always think that we were a little bit lucky (well, in a way) to be invaded by people who at least knew a thing or two about good cakes :D.

Panettone is also very versatile; recently my friend has been ordering the chocolate and orange version at Costa, which is a great variation of this classic and you can also make the leftovers into a fantastic bread and butter pudding.  However, all this thought about Panettone really got me thinking;I had no idea how it is made made. Therefore, in preparation for this coming Christmas I adapted this simple and impressive recipe so that we will definitely be seeing my fruity friend around this year.

For the Panettone:

you will need:

  • 1 tablespoon dried active baking yeast
  • 225ml warm milk
  • 4 tablespoons golden, caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 125ml low fat natural yoghurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest from 1 lemon zest
  • zest from 1 clementine
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 600 g (1 lb) plain flour
  • 100g mixed dried fruits and peel
  • 8 maraschino cherries (chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon icing sugar
  • 1 tsp melted butter (to brush, optional)

In a large mixing bowl, first add the yeast to the warm milk and caster sugar. Leave to one side for around 10 mins. Once the yeast has become frothy, add the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, lemon zest, clementine zest and salt to the mixture. Whisk together until well combined. Next stir in 500g of flour bit by bit until well incorporated. Sprinkle the rest of the remaining 100g of flour onto a work surface and knead the dough until smooth and not sticky, this can take up to 10 mins by hand. Alternatively you can do this in a bread maker. Leave to rise in an oiled bowl for around 1 hour covered in a tea towel.

Mean while coat the mixed fruit and cherries in the icing sugar. When the dough has risen punch it in the bowl 1/2 times then turn out onto a floured board and knead in the fruits. Then place in a 20cm, round cake tin that has been lightly greased. Cover loosely with an oiled layer of cling film and leave to rise until the dough has almost reached the top of the tin. This can take between 1-2hrs.

Once the dough has risen again, brush the top of the dough with melted butter or egg and place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for around 30-40 mins or unitl the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If after 30 mins or so the top becomes too brown just cover with some tin foil for the remaining cooking time to stop it from burning. Once out of the oven, leave it to cool in the tin for a few mins, then turn out onto a wire cooking rack to cool completely. Once cool sprinkle with icing sugar for decoration. This recipe serves 12.

Nutritional Information:

For 1/12 of a panettone

Calories:262 kcal

Fat:2.2g

Protein:7.1g

Carbohydrates:52.9g