It consists of a yeast starter and two more steps until the dough is resting, but it gets done in less than a day, with a small amount of hand-on time, as it usually happens with yeast breads.
PANDORO – Golden Italian Sweet Bread
Ingredients
- For the sponge
- 4 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbs sugar
- ¾ cup 100g all purpose or bread flour
- For the first dough
- 3 cups + 3 Tbs (380g pastry or cake flour)
- 3 ¼ cups 435g all purpose or bread flour
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 Tbs warm water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ stick (55g unsalted butter, room tº)
- For the second dough
- 4 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup 200g sugar
- Reserved mixed flours
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon or 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 2 ½ sticks (285g unsalted butter, at room tº)
- 4 Tbs + ½ cup all purpose flour for kneading (if necessary)
- Confectioners’ sugar (to serve)
Instructions
- For the sponge
- In the bowl of the electric mixer, stir the yeast into the water and let stand 5 minutes, until foamy.
- Add egg, sugar and flour and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Let stand, covered with plastic wrap, until doubled, about 30 minutes.
- For the first dough
- Mix the two flours together. Measure 2 ½ cups of this mix that will be used for the first dough, and reserve remaining for second dough.
- In a small bowl stir the water with the yeast and let rest 5 minutes, until foamy.
- Add yeast mixture, sugar, eggs and flour to the sponge. Mix with the paddle attachment until well combined.
- Add the soft butter and beat until well blended.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rest until doubled, about 45 minutes.
- For the second dough
- Add eggs, yolks, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest to the first dough and beat well with the paddle attachment.
- Gradually add the softened butter and mix until well incorporated. Add reserved flour and salt in ½ cup additions.
- Change to the dough hook and knead 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should be soft, buttery and delicate.
- It should not clean the sides of the bowl completely, but add up to ½ cup more flour if the dough is still too wet.
- Place the dough in a buttered bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm place until doubled in volume, anywhere between 2 to 4 hours.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with the 4 Tbs flour. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and, with floured hands, cut the dough in half with a dough scraper or a knife.
- Shape each half into a loose ball and place in well buttered or sprayed star-shaped pandoro molds. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, between 2 ½ to 4 hours.
- Preheat oven 30 minutes before baking to 350º F /180ºC.
- Bake breads for 30 minutes. Reduce oven tº to 300ºF/150ºC and continue baking for another 30 minutes. If the top is too brown cover loosely with aluminum foil.
- Let cool on wire rack and unmold.
- Dust with confectioners’ sugar and shake inside a cellophane bag before serving.
Here is what the rest of the group made to kick-start the year:
Alabama Light Bread by Dorothy | Shockingly Delicious
Basic White Bread by Renee | Magnolia Days
Classic Oatmeal Bread by Liz | That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Grandmom’s Dinner Rolls by Jennie from The Messy Baker Blog
Italian Potato Bread by Rosella | Ma Che Ti Sei Mangiato
Orange, Date and Nut Loaf by Katerina / Diethood
Rosemary Olive Oil Bread by Alice | Hip Foodie Mom
Whole Wheat Pita Bread by Holly | A Baker’s House
Whole Wheat Sea Salt Bagel by Lora | Cake Duchess
English Muffin Bread by Karen / Karen’s Kitchen Stories
The mold is purchased and will arrive by the 15th! I know what I am doing next weekend! ~ David
You won´t be dissapointed. Right now, I have leftover pandoro croutons in the oven, drying. I don´t know what I´ll make with them, maybe a brown betty or bread pudding.
Step one: I am going on Amazon.com right now to buy a pandoro mold. Step two: I am going to make this even though the holiday has passed. I love pandoro and have never even thought to look for a recipe. I may not be italian but, like John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda, "Sono Italiano in spirito
I made after a few years of not making it, and it blew my mind again like the first time. It´s probably my favorite sweet bread. So good.
Really beautiful! We ate Pandoro every year at the holidays when we lived in Italy and it was a hard habit to break once we moved back to France. I have never dared to actually try making it myself but yours is so perfect I should really try! Happy New Year!
that is the coolest bread shape ever! and it looks super soft too 😀
I have just discovered your blog via The Little Loaf and am glad that I have! I am looking forward to browsing more through past posts and expect I will become a regular reader. This bread looks and sounds delicious and I love the 'snow globe' element. Have you ever made it in a regular cake pan? I just can't justify buying any more pans, mainly due to storage issues! Panettone can be made in a regular tin, so I am guessing this would work too (?).
Hi Amy, so nice to meet you! Do you have brioche molds? I never used them for this bread, but I don´t see why they won´t work. The next best thing would be a rather tall and slim mold. Do tell me how it went if you make it!