First Colomba batch 2025

I baked the first batch of Colomba this year, to try out my new 1 kg size paper pans, and to think about new flavor combinations. Also, the tweaks I’ve made to my lievito madre, mixing and fermentation techniques as they pertain to Colomba. 

I’m also using a different flour this year - Mille Bolle from Molino Pasini; this is easily the best panettone flour I have tried, and it really worked well for this batch.

Some stats:

LM going into the 1st dough was pH 4.6.  The 1st dough fermentation was 13 hours, and pH at the end was 5.07.

The dough handled extremely well throughout. The 2nd dough fermentation was 4.5 hours, and loaves were baked for around 45 minutes to internal temp of 92-93C

There were three loaves. The base inclusions were candied orange and lemon peel plus white chocolate. One loaf had almond paste laminated in, one had dark chocolate, and one was “plain”. The dough was extremely elastic, so lamination was easy:

I formed the loaves using the traditional two-piece body and wings approach, which makes a more dove-like appearance in the result. However for the next batch, I’ll try the more modern all-one-piece approach, which can create the same type of height seen in a tall panettone… then I’ll decide which I prefer.  

Also, since this was the first time I’ve used the big 1 kg paper pans, I didn’t know how to scale them, and went on the conservative side, about 1010 g dough/pan.  I might increase this for the next batch, but since I can only bake one of these at a time in my Anova oven, I have to be careful to not allow them to over-proof while waiting their turn. They can be briefly refrigerated as needed to slow the growth.

These were baked at 175 C for 5 minutes, then turned down to 165 C for another 40 minutes. Internal temp check for 92-3 C

The filled ones take a few extra minutes, depending on the type of filling.

Flavor trial Results - Nice rise, nice crumb, extreme tenderness.  I had high hopes for the almond one, but the flavor didn’t really seem to add much to the orange and lemon base. The chocolate chip one has flown to a new home, and I’m waiting for the review. The plain one - just orange peel, lemon peel and white chocolate - is really very good.

Making the Colomba is a lot of fun, I really recommend it!