Is anyone using their sour dough starter for panettone?
A couple of questions:
- Are you doing the constant 4hr feeding regime like Matt Tinder and others?
- How long does it take to develop the gluten in each knead. I hand need and the high egg yoke and butter ratios means some days it takes about 1 + 1/2 Hours kneading to get a good window pane.
Panettone...such a minx. It really is a labor of love for that sweat treat.
Just throwing out ideas here but since fats interfere with gluten development is it feasible to start developing the gluten first with just flour and water then add in the fats a bit later and work them in?
Abe
You are correct, and the recipe follows that general principle. However, the high quantity of fats actually appears to break down the built up gluten. Also if I overly develop the gluten first it becomes very difficult to incorporate the fats (remember I am hand kneading and it is a very wet dough).
Here is a link to an older discussion on using a specially developed starter to make sweet breads (such as pandoro and panettone). Nico makes a special starter for the project. I have used a regular starter but it must be very strong in yeasts to be successful. Debra Wink (local fermentation specialist here on TFL) explains why.
This is the link in the last comment of that thread that directs you to a YouTube video by Francisco Migoya and "Insights Into Modernis Bread". I is long and I'm not sure where he talks about making a starter more osmotolerant by gradually adding sugar util you reach the percentage similar to the recipe level. Not a lot of info but you can probably come up with a methodology.
In traditional panettone, only starter is used. Do a search and find more info-there is a lot on this site.
Good luck!
Thanks so much for the links. They are amazing.
Our starter has no problem with fermentation for panettone. She is a very feisty girl (she's happily named Carmen Miranda).
Our 4hr feeding regime means we have large amounts of starter to re-use...so we are always stocked up on waffles and crumpets.
It works every time and is delicious - plus it is easy and striaght forward. You get a lot of discard starter that you will use to make bread with along the way for pancakes etc but that is what you have to do to get the levain ready to do the heavy lifting.
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/panettone-recipe/
D
Thanks for that info. I tried the Wildyeast's recipe but found I got better results with Pietro's. I agree - simplest is always a good thing when it comes to Panettone.
Our kitchen cooking utensils have actually doubled as we have found new ways to use our left over starter....
Cos I built my starter using Dab's no-fuss method.
Kneading time varies. I have a blog entry that documents my procedures.
Y
That is amazing. I would love to know the flavour profile of your yeast given yours is so robust. Ours is naturally sweet with slight fruity notes.
Mine also had slight fruity notes but I'm not sure whether it's the yeast or the ingredients that had contributed to this taste.