Pandoro Recipe (Italian Holiday Bread)
Pandoro is a golden holiday bread, plain but with a wonderful flavor and texture. It's enriched with eggs and butter, so you know it will be delicious. It's a favorite around here to give as a gift and it makes great bread pudding.
Servings 12 servings
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
- ¼ cup water tepid or warm (not hot)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour or bread flour
For the first dough:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour see Notes for alternative
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon water tepid or warm (not hot)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
For the second dough:
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract also works
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus extra if necessary for kneading
- ½ teaspoon salt
- powdered sugar to serve (if you have vanilla powdered sugar much better)
Instructions
For the sponge:
- In the bowl of the electric mixer, stir 2 teaspoons active dry yeast into ¼ cup water and stir.
- Add 1 tablespoon sugar and ⅓ cup all-purpose flour and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Let stand, covered with plastic wrap, until bubbly and foamy, about 30 minutes.
For the first dough:
- Attach the bowl with the sponge to the stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Stir 1 teaspoon active dry yeast with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Add it to the sponge mixture in the bowl together with 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 eggs.
- Start the mixer at low speed. Add 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, half cup at a time. Mix with the paddle attachment until combined.
- Add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, one piece at a time, and beat at medium speed until well blended and the butter has dissolved. It will be thick and maybe a little stiff.
- Cover the mixer bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rest until doubled, about 45 minutes.
For the second dough:
- Add 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, ½ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon lemon zest to the first dough and beat with the paddle attachment until it's all well integrated.
- Change to the dough hook. Gradually add ⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened and mix until well incorporated.
- Add 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and ½ teaspoon salt in ½ cup additions.
- Knead for 10 minutes at medium speed. The dough should be soft and buttery. 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 and pools in the bottom and sides like a thick cake batter.
- Transfer the dough to a buttered bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let it rest in a warm place until doubled in volume, between 1 to 2 hours.
- Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and, with lgihtly floured hands, deflate first and then gather it to make a loose ball. The dough should be soft and elastic, sticky but easy to work with.
- Shape into a loose ball and place in a well-buttered pandoro pan (see Notes for alternatives). Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled, between 1 to 2 hours.
- Preheat oven 30 minutes before baking to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Bake pandoro bread for 20 minutes on the middle oven shelf.
- Reduce oven temperature to 300ºF (150ºC) and continue baking for another 30 minutes. The top should be golden brown and the bread sound hollow when lightly tapped with your knuckles. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. If unsure, insert a cake tester or brochette stick; it should come out clean with no wet crumbs attached.
- Let cool on a wire rack and then remove from the pan.
- Place the cold bread inside a large cellophane bag. Before serving, dust with powdered vanilla sugar, close the bag tightly and shake the bag so the pandoro is completely covered in the sugar. To gift: place the bread with a small pouch of powdered sugar attached and written instructions to shake before serving.
Notes
Yeast: any type can be used. Be careful when using instant or one of those fast-rising ones, as they usually leaven faster than the time frames given in this recipe.
Vanilla sugar: it can be bought online. You can make your own by adding some vanilla beans to a jar of powdered sugar. Or, easier than the latter, mix powdered sugar with some vanilla powder (available online), which will instantly flavor the sugar.
Flavoring: you can add some chopped candied lemon or orange, and orange zest, but I think the beauty of it resides in its clean unassuming appearance and the extraordinary flavor that you discover when you take a bite.
Flour: all-purpose works very well, but you can also use half bread flour and half cake flour. They each have their properties, and the bread will have texture and softness.
