Active Time
20 minutes
Total Time
2 days
If you’ve only had supermarket panettone—the kind that comes in the tall red and gold box—this panettone recipe from acclaimed baker Jim Lahey is a revelation. Mastering the traditional Italian sweet, a specialty of Milan eaten on Christmas and Easter, has become a badge of honor for bakers. The dough is notoriously difficult to work with, but with Lahey’s guidance you’ll get an impressive loaf. He starts by making a sticky dough in the bowl of a stand mixer and enriching it with lots and lots of butter. Then he lets the dough rise and ferment slowly—twice—first in a cold oven (you don’t want it in an overly warm place). The second rising time takes place in a panettone mold, which you can order from King Arthur Flour or Amazon. Once it’s baked, puncture the paper mold all the way through the loaf with two skewers so you can hang the bread upside down to cool.
Lahey keeps his flavorings simple, adding rum-soaked raisins, lemon zest, candied citron, and a split vanilla bean. Once you’re comfortable with the recipe, though, you can carefully play with it, swapping in golden raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruit, adding orange zest or using candied orange peel and chocolate chips.
While panettone is more of a sweet bread than a cake, you can serve it at any time of day. In Italy you might enjoy it with a glass of Moscato for dessert or with a cappuccino for breakfast. Because panettone dough is so moist, a finished loaf stays fresh for a long time, but any slightly stale leftovers make superlative bread pudding or French toast or can be simply crisped and topped with ice cream and fried bananas.
Editor’s note: This recipe was first printed in the December 2008 issue of ‘Gourmet’. Head this way for more of our best Christmas desserts →
Ingredients
Makes 1 panettone
Preparation
Step 1
Soak raisins in rum and 2 Tbsp. hot water at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until raisins are plump and most of liquid has been absorbed, 8 hours or overnight.
Step 2
Mix flour, sugar, salt, yeast, zest, and vanilla bean in mixer at low speed until combined. Whisk together eggs, tepid water (⅔ cup), and honey in a bowl. With mixer at low speed, pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Increase speed to medium-low and mix to combine. Add 10 ½ Tbsp. softened butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding more. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Step 3
Drain raisins, discarding soaking liquid, then stir together with citron and 1 Tbsp. melted butter. Stir into dough with a wooden spoon.
Step 4
Place dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in cold oven with door closed until nearly tripled in volume, 12 to 15 hours.
Step 5
Discard vanilla bean, then sprinkle dough lightly with flour and scrape out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle a bit more flour onto dough. Fold edges into center and place, seam side down, in panettone mold. Cover with a damp kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until dough is just above top of mold, 3 to 5 hours.
Step 6
Preheat oven to 370°F with rack in lower third. Place dough in mold on a baking sheet. Use a serrated knife to score an X across entire surface of dough. Place remaining 1 Tbsp. chilled butter in center of X and bake until a wooden skewer inserted into center comes out slightly moist but not wet, 1 to 1¼ hours. (Panettone will be very dark.)
Step 7
Pierce skewers all the way through panettone (including paper) 4 inches apart and 1 inch from bottom so skewers are parallel. Hang panettone upside down over a large stockpot or between two objects of equal height and cool completely before cutting. Panettone keeps, wrapped tightly in foil in a sealable bag, at room temperature 1 week.
Leave a Review
Reviews (5)
Back to TopI plan to make this for New Year’s Day as I didn’t allow enough time for all the rising at Christmas. I’m laughing at the instructions to be very, very careful about adding or changing the flavorings “once you’re comfortable” with the recipe. Go ahead and put what you like in it! I’m going to use my usual anise seed, lemon and orange rind (like a whole fruit’s worth, not a measly 1/4 teaspoon!) and candied ginger and dried apricots. If I had dried cherries I’d throw them in there too. I don’t care for chocolate chip panettone myself but if that floats your boat, go for it!
Lulu
SF Bay Area
12/30/2023
Made this last year during the holidays for gifting. They were so excellent, everyone has requested them again this year!
Anonymous
Greenville, SC
10/1/2023
I attempted to make this vegan and the result was a perfectly weighted doorstop;-)
Anonymous
Netherlands
12/22/2022
I wish this recipe was measured in grams rather than cups etc. I would think anybody attempting this recipe with a wet sticky dough has some baking experience and would have a scale handy Bakers' percentages always work out much better.
Dan M
San Francisco CA
12/9/2022
To Mumbai, just follow his directions. He is rather a genius with yeast doughs and the making of them accessible to home bakers. The hardest part will be finding the molds in India, but you can always make your own using a 6 x 2 inch cake pan and making a parchment paper collar to hold the rising dough. If it’s warmer than 70°F where you are, watch the rising time- the warmer the room, the faster the rise. You can always let it rise in the refrigerator, which will give it a superior flavor and texture to the warm room rise. Have fun!
Gigi Pravda
San Francisco, CA
12/7/2022
I am crazy enough to try this, crazy because I have never attempted anything, least of all any cakes; the other crazy idea is to try out a Chiffon cake, please wish me well, other than sourdough bread a couple of times.
Anonymous
Mumbai, India
12/6/2022
Simple and celebratory
Janius dough
2/23/2023
Made the panettone as written except used half regular raisins and half golden raisins and it was delicious. In my case it took longer to rise than the recipe guidance (both times), but it looked beautiful and was deliciously moist. Perhaps it took longer to rise because my yeast is getting old. My only question is about the final step before baking. Is it a big “X” across the diameter of the dough or a little “x” just to fit the butter? How deep does it go? What is the purpose of the butter?
Ellen
Portland, OR
12/8/2022
A favorite from the magazine!
Gourmet fan
11/29/2022
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