Is there a dish that you look forward to eating every Christmas? The dish that you start thinking about in October and miss it as soon as you finish eating it on Christmas Day? 

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For us at Olive & Angelo, it’s traditional Panettone. Panettone is special to us not only because it’s delicious, but the rituals that surround it make it extra memorable. At Olive & Angelo, family, love, heart and soul is embedded in everything that we do, so it’s no wonder that Panettone is so special to us. It’s something that we always eat together as a family on Christmas Day - when afternoon tea rolls around, we pull out the Panettone, whip up espressos for all, and gather round to chat and spend quality time with family and friends. 

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If you’re not familiar with Panettone, it’s a traditional Italian sweet bread with dried fruit, nuts and citrus, originally from Milan. It’s popular all over Italy during Christmas and when the New Year rolls over. It takes two whole days to prepare it, meaning it’s a real labour of love and a seriously impressive thing to show off on Christmas Day! 

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The Timeline 

On the day before Christmas, it’s time to start prepping. There’s an initial rise of 45 minutes required, then leave it overnight in the fridge and the yeast will do its thing, ready for you to play with it some more the next day. 

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Christmas Day - Your dough will have risen significantly! It’s now time to shape it into a rectangle, spread your fruit, nuts or toppings of your preference evenly across the dough. Form it into a ball and then set it into the mold. You’ll have to wait for it to rise for 2-3 more hours and then into the oven it goes! 

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The Recipe 

Prep time: 40 minutes 
Cook time: 75 minutes
Rise time: 14 hours 
Total time: 15 hours 55 minutes 

Serves: 8-12 people 

 

Ingredients 

Dough and sponge: 

• 3 ¾ cups (450g) all purpose flour 

• ¾ tbsp of instant yeast

• ½ cup of water

• 4 large eggs

• Orange zest from one small orange 

• ¼ cups of sugar 

• 1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract 

• 1 tsp of fine sea salt 

• 9 tbsp of unsalted butter (room temperature)

• ¾ tbsp of cold butter 

• Oil (for the dough bowl) 

 

Fruit and nuts: 
You can choose whatever fruit and nuts you prefer, but this is what we like and have every year at Olive & Angelo. 

• ½ cup of pistachios 

• ½ cup of walnuts 

• ¼ cup of dark raisins 

• ¼ cup of dried fruits of your choosing (a pack of quality dried fruits that include apricots, cranberries, cherries etc. works well)

• 3 tbsp of dark rum 

• 3 tbsp of hot water 

 

 

Method 

Day one: Prepping the dough 
Preparation time: 30 minutes 
Rising time: 45 minutes 

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1. Using a large bowl, mix ¾ cup of flour and ¾ tablespoon of instant yeast. Add ½ cup of water and mix all ingredients together with a spoon. The consistency should be quite thick and cake batter like. Use cling wrap to cover the bowl and let it rise for 45 minutes until it doubles in size. 

2. Using a small bowl, mix together your choice of fruit and nuts along with the rum and water. Let it soak overnight with a lid over the bowl. 

3. Using a medium sized bowl, whisk together the leftover flour and salt until well mixed 

4. Once the dough has risen, grab your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. On medium speed, add eggs to the dough, one by one, until they are fully blended in. Once incorporated, add in the orange zest, sugar and vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture you prepared earlier until blended. The final consistency should be very soft and stretchy. 

5. On your stand mixer, change to the dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic (should take around 7-8 minutes). Any time the dough travels up the dough hook, stop the mixing and push it back into the bowl. 

6. Still on low speed with the dough hook, gradually add the butter to the bowl and mix until the dough is silky and shiny (~3 minutes). Add more flour if it appears to be extremely sticky. The final consistency of the dough should be very soft and sticky. 

7. Pat the dough into a ball (still in the bowl), add a drop of oil and place a piece of cling wrap on the dough and place in the fridge overnight (for at least 8 hours). 

 

Day two: Shaping and baking the Panettone 
Preparation time: 10 minutes 
Rising time: 2-3 hours 
Baking time: ~75 minutes  

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1. On a baking sheet, place the Panettone mold. Flour your workspace and place the risen dough on it, rolling it into a flat rectangle. Drain the soaked fruit and nuts and spread them evenly over the top of the rectangle. Embed the fruit and nuts into the dough with a rolling pin until they are nestled comfortably in the dough. 

2. Bring each long edge of the rectangle towards the centre so that the dough is folded into thirds. Next, fold the lower half of the rectangle to meet the top to create a square. Gently press it to about 4cm thick. Pull each corner of the square to the centre to form a rough ball and pinch the edges to seal the seams of the dough together. Use your hands to shape it into a smooth, round ball. 

3. Set the dough seam-side down into the Panettone mold. Cover with cling wrap and let it rise in a warm spot for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until it reaches the rim of the mold. 

4. ~30 minutes before the Panettone has reached the rim of the mold, preheat the oven to 190°C. Once the dough has fully risen, lightly score a cross across the top and place the cold piece of butter right in the centre of the dough.

5. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and bake the Panettone for 30 minutes. Cover the top loosely with foil to prevent over-browning. Bake for another 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden and the centre of the dough is around 90°C. Take it out of the oven, set it on a rack and allow it to cool completely in its paper mold.