Panettone( Italian Sweet Bread)

Panettone is a sweet Italian bread traditionaly
cupola(dome)shaped, made mostly during
Christmas and New Year.

Legends and history add to its popularity.
One story dates back to 15th century Court of
the duke of Milan, where a kitchen boy, 'Toni', baked
a sweet bread for christmas and the court cook presented
it to the guests as a sweet dish.
In appreciation,this sweet bread was named -
Toni's bread (Pan de Toni).

There are lots of variations found in this recipe.
Almost all the ingredients used in christmas cake is
included in this recipe.

In Italy this bread is served mainly with a
glass of wine and 'cream of mascarpone' made from
mascarpone cheese.

'Panettone' is truly a bread of luxury.

Ingredients

Flour - 2 ½ cups
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Dry yeast – 2 ½ tsp
Salt -1/4 tsp
Warm milk - ½ cup
Soft butter – ¼ cup
Eggs - 3 large
Raisins - 1 cup
Orange zest - 1 tbsp

Preparation

In a cup of warm milk add 1 tablespoon of
sugar and dissolve yeast;
keep aside to rise in a warm place.

Take a large bowl beat eggs, add the remaining sugar, salt, butter,
the doubled yeast in milk, raisins and flour. Mix well and pour
into a greased, dusted baking dish, cover it with a warm
moist cloth.
Keep in a warm place again for the dough to double for about
2 to 4 hours.
Preheat the oven and bake the bread for 35 minutes.
As soon as you take it from the oven, with a skewer, pierce
the top of the bread all over and pour hot rum syrup.
After about 10 minutes remove from the baking dish .

Serve panettone with plain soft butter and a glass of wine.
This sweet and soft panettone will be a
great hit on your christmas table....

Rum Syrup

Rum - 1/3 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Combine rum and sugar and bring to a boil.
Turn off the flame and pour the rum syrup hot on the bread.

All the ingredients specially yeast should be fresh and
in room temperature for best results.