I’m not really a lucky person. I’m kind of like Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck after she kisses the boy. What? I’m the only loser who’s seen every Lohan movie? Okie dokie…
Anyway.
I won a giveaway! Me! The girl who not long ago slammed her thumb in her Camaro door and then had to spend 3 minutes digging through her purse to find her keys and then another 2 minutes trying to get the key to go in the keyhole, all with a baby strapped to her chest. That one right there pretty much sums up my luck. So yeah, I know you’re dying to know what I won. It was a $50 giftcard to Bake It Pretty thanks to The Sweetest Kitchen. $50! Of cupcake goodness! It was one of my more exciting moments of 2010.
I tell you this because I got those cute Panettone wrappers thanks to that giftcard. I was not excited at all about making Panettone (which is the next bread on my BBA list) but as soon as I saw these wrappers I couldn’t wait.
The bread was, as expected, not my favorite. I don’t believe dried fruit and nuts have any place in yeast bread. Ever. It’s just a no. That said, I only used raisins (not golden) because that’s all I had. I also left out the liquor because we don’t keep that either. I did, by the luck of the Irish (get it?! Because it’s Saint Patrick’s day! I kill myself.), have slivered almonds.
The bread was more difficult than the others only because it requires a barm which is the sourdough starter that is in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Lucky me, I happened to start my sourdough starter a few weeks ago.
I halved the recipe and still got 6 loaves that looked like oversized biscuits. They were so pretty, they baked up perfectly. Like I said though, we weren’t really fans. There was just a tiny bit of butter in the dough but it still had a brioche feel to it. It was pretty bland and not something I’d make again. It was fun though and I’m glad I had the cute wrappers!
Interested in giving it a try? Open your copy of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice to page 202. And check out the BBA blogroll to see what the other baker’s thought of the Panettone.
maybe it needed the liquor? Whenever I have had this I could taste the essence it left behind.
but if you don’t like fruit in a yeast bread I don’t think some liquor/extract would have saved it for you.
maybe you make the extras into a bread pudding? I have had it as a bread pudding in a restuarant before. the bread held up well to a custard and the fruit plumped nicely too.
Nicole´s last blog ..row row row your boat
Congrats on your win, how exciting!
Sorry they didn’t turn out quite right. :/
No one in my house will eat fruit in their breads, but the people at work will
Anne Marie´s last blog ..Polenta with Mushrooms in Beef Sauce
Congratulations on your win. Your panettone does look really nice. Maybe the bland flavor was due to the fact that you omitted nearly all the things that give flavor to the panettone? Just wondering… Oh, when a recipe calls for liqour or wine, I always use apple juice or grape juice (depends on the dish). So, maybe soaking the raisins in apple juice would have saved it for you?
ap269´s last blog ..BBA Challenge #43: Sautéed Onion and Parmesan Miche
The wrappers are absolutely wonderful! I wish I could get them over here. The panettone look amazing. It’s too bad you didn’t like it. I used scotch in mine and it was wonderful, but, of course, you could taste it.
Daniel´s last blog ..My Bread Year: Whole-Wheat Brioche