Panettone

• 350g Strong Plain Flour
• pinch of Salt
• 50g Sugar
• 25g fresh Yeast or 7g Dried Yeast
• 150ml Milk, lukewarm, see below
• 50g Butter, melted
• 3 egg yolks
• 75g Raisins, seedless
• 50g Chopped Mixed Peel
• Grated rind of 1 Lemon
• a little beaten egg to glaze

1. Mix the fresh yeast with 1 tsp of sugar and lukewarm milk. (If you are using dried yeast, sprinkle on the milk with 1 tsp of the sugar and leave until frothy.)
2. Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl and stir in the sugar.
3. Add the yeast mixture to the flour with the melted butter, egg yolks, raisins, peel and lemon rind
   mix well to form a stiff dough. Knead well.
4. Leave to prove for 2 hours
5. Heat the oven 220C, Gas Mark 7
6. Shape the dough into a tall domed loaf and place in a greased deep cake tin or alternatively place into a panettone tin.
7. Glaze the panettone well with beaten egg
8. Bake 15 mins then reduce to 190C, Mark 5 for 25 mins. Cool on a wire rack

Tips

Yeast needs careful temperature conditions to become active. Too cold and it will not grow; too hot and it will die. The optimum temperature is blood heat; lukewarm and this temperature can be achieved if one-third of the liquid is at boiling point and two-thirds is cold. Therefore use 100ml cold milk and 50ml boiling milk