Reasons Behind A Poor Panettone
Welcome to the twenty-forth instalment of my series where I test out recipes from an obscure 1990s Italian cookbook. This time, I tried panettone, from the ‘Cakes, Biscuits, and Breads’ section.
As excited as I was to share a post about panettone over the festive season, it simply wasn’t meant to be.
I tried this recipe twice, just to make sure it wasn’t me, and I think I can quite confidently claim that it isn’t so great.
I don’t want to be a hater, but there were so many things wrong with the method, especially when comparing it to other panettone recipes from more reputable sources.
After each attempt, the results were dense and tasteless, which I think was down to many factors:
- There is an obscene amount of fresh yeast in this recipe – 90g to be exact!
- The rise time is incredibly short – just a couple of hours compared to the slow rise of other panettone recipes.
- Yet again, the book recommends using plain flour over strong flour, which is essential for breadmaking as its higher protein content gives greater rise and structure.
- Panettone is also supposed to be hung upside down to prevent it collapsing in on itself as it cools. I didn’t really have to worry about this since my final bake was already flat…
But why blog about this disaster?
Because – I want to be realistic about the trials and tribulations of baking and cooking.
The best cooks and bakers are lying if they tell you they’ve never had a kitchen failure. It happens to the best of us and I think it can teach us the most important lessons.
Whenever I have a baking disaster, I always run to online forums for common queries and even find comfort in seeing others photograph their own misfortunate bakes. I commend these brave souls willing to expose themselves to the self-righteous culinary keyboard warriors.
Perhaps my own post will attract these very folks, but I hope it can also provide some comfort to others who might have also just failed on their own panettone attempt. I’d like to open up a healthy dialogue about experimentation and learning in the kitchen – my failed panettone attempts only make me more determined to read more and try again until I finally get it right. This has always been my mantra, but it also helps that I’m quite a stubborn soul by nature.
And so, I pledge to return next Christmas with a foolproof panettone recipe once I finally get it right, but for now, I’ll just have to make do with the shop bought.
Book Recipe Rating: 1/10
I always love hearing from readers, so if you have any questions or would simply like to connect, fill out the form on my contact page or message me through my social media accounts:
One Comment