Panettone season continues and I am excited to present a classic recipe by a Italian master pastry chef Iginio Massari.
After successfully baking 5-6 batches of Giorilli Panettone I have decided to embark on a new baking challenge with a Massari recipe. The most glaring differences between the two recipes is the use of a candied citrus peel in Massari recipe as well as different process methodology. Contrary to the common process of adding softened butter at the end of mixing cycle into a developed dough here it is added right at the beginning of the mixing. Nevertheless and to my surprise it worked equally as well and without any issues.
The panettone turned out fantastic! The taste was light and fluffy with well balanced sweetness and a beautiful aroma kicked it up for another notch!
The whole making process went fairly smooth, especially the mixing stages for both doughs. Where it went little astray was during the fermentation; that took way longer than anticipated. Namely the first dough took 18 hours to rise instead of anticipated 10-12 hours. The same was repeated with the second dough. My sourdough starter was good with desirable pH readings, but not as active as I liked it to be. I am sure that was a factor. At times it made me feel doubtful and more than once crossed my mind that it might not work, but that’s not an unusual mindset when baking any panettone recipe. There is nothing more challenging to bake and surely it keeps you on edge the whole time.
However, at the end it turned out to be a successful bake with a very fragrant and flavorful panettone!
Few key items to reemphasize besides what I already outlined in previous Grioilli recipe:
- Have a healthy and active starter or lievito madre.
- Prepare your candied peel ahead of time and to preserve fragrance cut in strips only before incorporating it to the dough.
- Accurate temperature control is absolute critical in order to properly manage dough fermenting stages.
The interesting twist in this recipe is the addition of water to the second dough and that is towards the end of mixing stage. To purpose of water is to help in adjusting the dough consistency to the desirable level. Obviously this part is totally based on experience as you have to know what to look for in terms of dough consistency. In my case I used the full recipe amount which at the end in my view diluted the dough far more than necessary and that is what perhaps added to the extended fermenting times that I experienced. I will use less water next time (if any at all) providing I am satisfied with the dough consistency at the end of the mixing cycle.

Prep Time | 2 hours |
Cook Time | 45 minutes |
Passive Time | 20 hours |
Servings |
Panettone
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- 90 g Lievito Madre Italian sourdough starter
- 360 g unbleached bread flour 14% protein or higher, sifted
- 135 g filtered water
- 114 g granulated sugar
- 90 g egg yolks at room temperature
- 129 g unsalted butter softened
- 90 g unbleached bread flour 14% protein or higher, sifted
- 117 g egg yolks
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 120 g unsalted butter softened
- 63 g filtered water
- 7 g fine sea salt
- 18 g melted unsalted butter
- 180 g sultana raisins
- 135 g candied orange peel
- 45 g candied lemon peel
- 23 g acacia honey
- 1/2 vanilla bean seeds scraped
- 1 organic lemon zest
- 1 organic orange zest
Ingredients
Day 1- Primo Impasto (1st dough)
Day 2 - Secondo Impasto (2nd dough)
Aromatic Mix
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- Into the bowl of a stand mixer add flour, sugar, soft butter, 1/3 of egg yolks and water. Mix at medium speed (#4 on Ankarsrum mixer) until the elastic dough is formed, about 18 minutes.
- Add lievito madre and remaining 2/3 of egg yolks to the bowl, continue working the dough until it is almost smooth, but making sure it doesn't become too shiny (overworked). That is about another 5 minutes of mixing. Note: The whole dough mixing operation should not last more than 22-25 minutes.
- Place the dough into covered container and keep in dough proofer for 10-12 hours at temperature of 24/25°C (75/77°F) or until dough triples by volume. Note: The dough not leavened sufficiently will delay the next leavening cycle (second dough) by triple the time missed in the first leavening cycle.
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer add first dough, flour and aromatic mix, mix at medium low speed (#3 on Ankarsrum mixer) for about 15 minutes.
- Add sugar with 1/3 of egg yolks and keep mixing until dough is homogenous and smooth.
- Add another 1/3 of egg yolks and salt, mix until the dough is homogenous and smooth.
- Add and incorporate the last 1/3 of egg yolks and softened butter. Mix everything well, forming a silky-like dough.
- Add and incorporate water as needed (up to 63g) in order to adjust the dough consistency.
- Pour in and incorporate melted butter.
- Add raisins, candied orange, and lemon peel, mix for 4-5 minutes until everything is distributed evenly in the dough. Note: The whole mixing operation should not last longer than 45 minutes, ideally 35 minutes.
- Remove the dough from mixer, place in a covered container and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Weigh and divide the dough into two equal parts. Shape each part into a ball, place on a large parchment paper lined baking pan. Let rest for 35/40 minutes in the oven at about 28°C (82°F). Note: You can prewarm the oven or use oven light to maintain approximate temperature during rest time.
- Round each ball tightly and place into a separate panettone paper mold, suited for a 750g panettone.
- Cover the molds and keep in a dough proofer for 6-7 hours at 28/30°C (82/86°F) or until the top of raised dough dome is roughly the same height as the mold edge. Note: Remove cover from the molds when the dough reaches 1.5" below the mold edge. This way the dough will create a crust which will make it easier to score.
- Score each panettone with a cross shape, place a knob of butter in the center of the cross.
- Bake at 177°C(350°F) in prewarmed oven, rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven for 45-50 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 94°C (201°F).
- Insert two sharp skewers through the very bottom of each mold, carefully flip upside down and and let rest on prepared supports. Let cool for about 10 hours. Note: Due to their delicate structure, panettones have to be cooled off in this way in order to preserve their shape.
- Store each panettone in a separate cellophane bag. Spray lightly inside the bag with 70% ethyl alcohol before inserting panettone and sealing the bag.
- Let panettone rest for minimum of 3-4 days to let the flavours mature. Cut with sharp serrated knife. Due to its tender structure it is advisable to cut panettone in half first and then into separate smaller slices.
- Keep panettones in a dry and cool place 12-18°C (54-65°F). If left whole and stored properly, the panettone will stay fresh and moist for about 4 weeks.
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