Panettone

An Italian Christmas fruit bread.

3 packages dry active yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lukewarm water
6 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 cups flour
8 tablespoons soft butter
    (1 quarter-pound stick)
1/3 cup diced candied citron
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dark raisins
2 tablespoons milted butter

Sprinkle the 3 packages of yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar over 1/3 cup of lukewarm water. Let the yeast and sugar stand 2 or 3 minutes, then stir them together to dissolve them completely. Set the cup in a warm, draft-free place for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the yeast bubbles up and the mixture almost doubles in volume.

With a rubber spatula, transfer the yeast mixture to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the 6 egg yolks, vanilla, lemon peel, salt and the rest of the 1/4 cup of sugar. Then add 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring the mixture constantly with your hand until the dough is sticky and soft but has enough body to be gathered into a rough ball. If necessary, add a little more flour. Divide the soft butter into three pieces and mix one piece at a time into the dough, which should then become heavy and stringy and fall from your hands in large blobs. Gather it together again in one mass.

Now add 1/2 to 1 cup more flour, a little at a time, mixing it in with your hands. When the dough is firm and, although oily, no longer sticky, knead it on a floured board for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and shiny and its surface is blistered. Then shape it into a ball. Place the ball in a large, clean bowl and sprinkle the top with a little flour. Cover the bowl with a plate or pot lid and set it in a warm draft-free spot (here again, an oven with the heat turned off is ideal). In 30 to 45 minutes the dough should rise to double its bulk.

Preheat the oven to 400°. Punch the dough down with your fists and gently knead in the diced candied citron and the white and dark raisins. Handle the dough as little as possible after you have added the raisins and citron or it will discolor. Shape the dough into a ball again, place it on a buttered baking sheet and cut a cross on the top of the ball. Generously butter one side of a strip of heavy brown paper about 25 inches long and 5 inches wide. Wrap the ball of dough loosely in the paper, buttered side in, so that the paper surrounds the dough in the pan like a collar. The collar should measure about 6 to 8 inches across. Fasten the ends of the paper in place around the dough with string, a pin or a paper clip and set the wrapped dough in a warm place to rise again.

When the dough has again doubled in bulk (after about another 15 minutes), brush the top of the dough with some of the melted butter and bake the panettone on the middle shelf of the oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350°, brush the top of the panettone with more of the melted butter, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes longer. When done, the top should be crisp and golden brown. Brush again with melted butter about 15 or 20 minutes after the baking process begins.

When the panettone is done, cool it on a wire cake rack, removing the paper when the cake is cool enough to handle. To serve, cut the panettone into thick wedges. Panettone stays fresh a long time, if carefully wrapped in aluminum foil, and is an excellent accompaniment to coffee or wine.