The BakeryBits Blog

Panettone Teacakes. Unutterably delicious, based on the recipe for Panettone Teacakes by Dan Lepard. I made these using Dan’s variation for Panettone Teacakes but instead of using the essences or spices described, I used two teaspoons of Aroma Panettone.

Aroma Panettone is an Italian essence based on citrus oils and gives the authentic flavour to panettone, although it has many other uses in cakes, custards, ice cream etc. Read what Dan Lepard said about it here.

So, using Dan’s recipe, I used the method described, following the Variation: reduced the milk, dropped the dripping and used 75g white chocolate and added the 3 egg yolks and 2tbsp honey. My variation on the variation is easy: instead of the combination of essences and the zest of an orange and lemon, I simply used 2tsp Aroma Panettone and the zest of one orange. I also replaced the syrup in the original with honey (mostly as I keep bees).

Apart from making the dough turn a soft orange colour, the room filled with a delightfully citrus fragrance that stayed all the way through the bake.

Ingredients:

• 2 sachets easy-blend yeast
• 125g warm water
• 600g strong flour
• 50g milk
• 50g honey
• 25g sugar
• 75g white chocolate
• 150g currants
• 150g chopped mixed peel
• 1 orange zest
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs and another 3 egg yolks (and one more whole egg for the egg wash)
• 2 tsp Aroma Panettone

Method:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and 3tbsp flour taken from the 600g total. Leave this for about 15 minutes until there is clear bubbling. In another bowl, heat the milk until boiling (I used a microwave), then add the white chocolate, honey and sugar and stir until melted and mixed. To this mixture, add the currants, peel, zest, salt and Aroma Panettone.

Next, whisk the eggs and yolks. Stir in the yeast mixture and the milk mixture then add the flour (600g less 3tbsp) until evenly combined. For this, I used a dough whisk until well mixed at which point it should be left for 10 minutes.

Dan tends to employ a gentle approach to kneading based on a series of short kneads over a period of time, exploiting the changes in the dough that occur naturally as dough develops (see The Handmade Loaf). On the first knead, the dough will be quite sticky becoming more manageable each time the dough is rested. Try to use a light oil on the surface and your hands rather than flour. A scraper may come in handy to help with this.Give 3 short kneads, each with a 30 minute rest between.

Next, the dough should be divided into 100g pieces and each piece rolled into a ball, flattened to about a 2cm thickness and placed on a buttered baking sheet or two. The trays should be placed somewhere warm until doubled in size.

Beat the last egg and brush it onto the teacakes. Dan suggests sprinkling each with crushed amaretti and La Perruche sugar cubes, but having neither, I used some ordinary broken sugar cubes and some unbleached sugar – not as good but OK I think.

The Panettone Teacakes take about 15 minutes to bake at 220°C (200°C in a fan oven).

Bonus: Panettone-and-Butter Pudding

My first attempt at Panettone Teacakes I am not going to show you as I managed to be distracted while the teacakes were in the oven…they had nearer 30 minutes-ish…however, not all bad as they made really delicious panettone-and-butter pudding!

Ingredients:

• About 6 Panettone Teacakes, sliced
• 50g butter
• 75g sultanas
• 40g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 800g milk

Method:

Butter the sliced teacakes and place half in the bottom of an ovendish (size the dish according to the space needed for the slices). Spread the sultanas over the sllices along with half the sugar. Add the remaining buttered slices, buttered-side up. Whisk the egg and milk together and pour over the dish. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar then leave for some minutes until the teacakes have soaked-up most of the egg/milk. Bake at 160°C (150°C in a fan oven) until the top is crisp and golden. Delicious.

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