Hello, everyone!
I had a little problem yesterday (well, okay, a *big* problem) with my
Panettone, and I'm hoping one of you can tell me what might have gone wrong.
Let me start off by posting the recipe:
PANETTONE
from _Breads of the World_ by Mariana Honig
Yield: 2 loaves
1 envelope yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup flour
2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
6 egg yolks
4 cups flour
1 cup light-colored raisins
1/2 cup diced candied lemon peel
1/2 cup diced candied orange peel
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Confectioners' sugar to sprinkle on top
*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Proof the yeast in the lukewarm water with the spoonful of sugar. Stir
in the cup of flour. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for
about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
Add the melted and cooled butter, sugar, salt, the 2 eggs and 6 egg
yolks. Stir in the flour, the raisins, the diced lemon and orange peel and
grated lemon rind.
Mix well and place on a lightly floured work surface. Knead until shiny
and smooth.
Place the dough in a large butter bowl, cover with a towel and let stand
in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Knead the dough again on the work surface and divide into 2 equal
pieces. Form these into 2 balls, place on a buttered baking sheet, cover
with a towel and let stand in a warm place to rise for 2 hours.
With a razor blade cut a cross on top of each bread. Place in the oven
and bake for 1 hour or until the breads are light brown and your cake tester
comes out clean.
Cool wrapped in a towel and dust with confectioners' sugar after the
breads are cooled.
========================================================
Okay, here's what happened:
First, I tried to adapt the proportions to the bread machine, like I've
successfully done with other recipes. The dough didn't rise enough to
notice, and the center was a soggy mass while the outside was overdone, even
on the 'light' setting. (The narrow band of bread in between "raw" and
"overdone" was tasty, though.)
For the second attempt, I decided to just go ahead and do it the way the
recipe says. When it came time to knead the dough, it was much too wet to
work with, so I kneaded in about another 3/4 cup of flour, just enough to
make the dough workable. I put it in to rise, and nothing happened. After
*several* hours, I decided it really wasn't going to do anything after all,
mixed 2 teaspoons of yeast with a little warm water to make a paste, and
kneaded that into the dough to see if it would help. No luck.
So here I sit, scratching my head and trying to figure out what went wrong.
This is the first time I have ever had a problem with any of the recipes
from Honig's book. I did use bread flour instead of all-purpose, but that
shouldn't have ruined things! Julekage is a similar bread as many of you
know, and I've used bread flour with it for years with no problems.
If any of you good people have any help or hope to offer, I would greatly
appreciate it! I'll post the Julekage recipe later.
Thanks and happy holidays!
Linda Robinson