I have just ordered a 55 pound bag of Molina Dellagiovanna panettone flour from the SFBI. My cost is $71 for the 55 pounds. I will be picking it up next week.
I haven’t used this flour before, but it sounds like it would be excellent for panettone. Because I know that the quantities that SFBI has are very limited, and this price is hard to beat, I jumped on placing the order right away, even though, as a home baker, I doubt I could use it all up in the next couple of years, and I don’t have freezer space for this large an amount. So I thought I would try to share the opportunity with any other home bakers in the SF Bay Area.
I am happy to sell at my cost ($6.45 per five pounds) up to 30 pounds with anyone in the SF Bay Area who is interested. I don’t want the hassle of shipping, but if you are willing to bring your own container and pick it at my house in Oakland (Montclair) let me know. If you live not too far away and can’t pick it up, I am willing to drop it off at your place. Depending on the level of interest, I might limit the maximum to 10 pounds per person.
If you are interested, please message me the amount you want in 5 pound increments and whether you can pick it up or would need me to deliver it to you.
Charlotte
I have used this flour in the past and it is very good!
I'm a home baker in south San Jose, so a bit far I suppose. I've only ever used King Arthur bread flour for panettone. Did you happen to try it out yet? I'm feeding my pasta madre now but will do the first dough in a couple days.
Anthony
Anthony
I’ve completed two bakes with the Dellagiovanna flour and I’m very pleased with the results. I think it’s made it easier to build a strong, well-balanced pasta made, and I think the finer grind has made it easier (and quicker) to mix the dough.
That being said, I think it’s possible to get good results with KA bread flour—it just requires more skill and patience than I may have (it’s a poor baker who blames the flour 😄). As others have recommended, you might want to try KA high gluten extra flour (Sir Lancelot). You should be able to order it from the KA site without incurring exorbitant shipping costs. If you’re willing to pay higher shipping costs, or drive to Petaluma to pick it up), you also should try Central Milling high gluten flour https://centralmilling.com/product/high-protein-bread-flour-organic-high-mountain/ .
Here are some pictures of my latest bake using the Dellagiovanna flour (one is glazed cherry and chocolate; the other is dried cherries, candied lemon peel and hazelnuts):
Good luck with your bake!
Charlotte
Those look great! Here's a pic of mine done with KA bread flour. It's Roy's recipe for panettone in a panettone book I have.
I ended up ordering some Caputo Manitoba to try. I'm quite happy with KA bread flour but just wanted to see how the stronger flour would possibly make it a bit more airy.
That looks to me like a wonderful result! I’d be very happy with that bake.
Thank you! I've been baking panettone for several years but didn't start getting the lighter result until after taking the Natasha's Baking course a couple years ago. Link below. How did you learn?
https://natashasbaking.com/product/panettone/
Anthony
Anthony
I started trying to learn how to bake panettone about 5 years ago by following the recipe and instructions on the wild yeast blog. I also read a lot of Italian recipes on the internet, and discussions on breadtopia, the weekend bakery blog, and the fresh loaf forum. I would work on improving my results each year by doing 3 or 4 bakes during each holiday season. A couple of years ago, I attended a zoom presentation (sponsored by the bread bakers guild of America) by Chef Settepani of Brooklyn. That’s when I learned how to finally build a pasta Madre. (I had up until then been developing a sweet firm starter just by reducing the hydration sweet of my regular, doing frequent feedings and maintaining it at warm temperatures for a couple of weeks.). I now use the recipe he gave us in his presentation. And I continue to try and improve my results each year. I also bought the Sourdough panettone and viennoiserie book by Teffri-Chambelland last year and have spent a fair amount of time reading certain portions and studying the recipes to see the many variations. (This is probably a lot more information than you were asking for!)
I wasn’t familiar with Natasha. Thanks for mentioning her—she has a great site with many recipes that look very interesting!
Charlotte