19 December, 2015

Gluten Free Brandy Soaked fruit Panettone

Posted in : Not So Naughty on 19th December 2015 by : Ugne

Gluten Free Panettone Filled With Brandy Soaked Fruit

Traditional panettone uses a biga—a pre-ferment made from a mixture of flour, yeast and water that ferments overnight—to achieve a high rise and a nice deep flavor. This is good news for gluten-free baking—thanks to the lack of gluten and the amount of fat and sugar in the dough, this loaf needs all the help rising it can get. (By the way, the biga doesn’t work alone. The finished loaf contains a generous amount of active dry yeast and a little baking powder to aid its rise.)

To get the full benefit of the biga, mix it about twelve to fifteen hours before you plan on baking. Just stir the ingredients together and let the yeast do its thing while you sleep. You might find the consistency of the biga a little startling. This gluten-free biga is wet, thick, and sticky. It looks a bit like marshmallow fluff.

To prepare the dough, you’ll first mix the wet and dry ingredients together until a dough forms. Like most gluten-free bread dough, this dough does not form a firm ball. Instead it’s a really thick, wet dough, almost a cross between a dough and a batter. To chug through the dough, you’ll want to use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

After the dough forms, add the butter. Be sure to use very soft butter for this step. Anything harder leaves clumps of butter throughout the dough. To test the butter’s softness, stick your finger (or a fork) into it. If your finger sinks easily into the butter, it’s the right consistency.

The dried soaked fruits fruits go in last. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the fruits, mixing until the fruits are just incorporated.

So here, lets start our journey to glorious Christmas gluten free Panettone world 🙂

~~~~~

INGREDIENTS

For the Biga
150ml of luke warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
120g brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

For the soaked fruit
50g Goji Berries
60g currants
70g dried cherries/cranberies
60g raisins
80g dried apricots (chooped)
40g chia seeds
Very finely chopped peel of 1 lemon and 1 orange + juice of the orange
150ml brandy

For the dough
350g plain Gluten free flour
50g potato starch
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
5g cream of tartar
120g light brown sugar
15g dry yeast
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2tsp cider vinegar
5eggs + 1 egg yolk
pinch of salt
125ml full fat milk
140g butter (soft room temperature)

METHOD

Firstly Prepare the Biga: Combine luke warm water and yeast in a small bowl, stir and allow mixture to stand until yeast starts to bubble- about two minutes. Whisk together rice flour and xanthan gum in a small bowl. Add water and yeast. Stir to combine. Mixture will be thick and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise overnight at room temperature.

Secondly prepare the fruit: Combine all ingredients in the bowl, add the brandy and orange juice, stir. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature mixing now and again to let fruit soak in the brandy.

Prepare the Dough: In a small bowl, stir together luke warm milk and yeast. Allow to stand for couple minutes.

In a bowl of stand mixer, whisk together gluten free flour, potato starch, light brown sugar, xanthan gum, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Add yeast mixture, egg yolks, eggs, and vinegar. Mix on medium speed with flat paddle attachment until dough is thick, about three minutes.

Add biga. Mix for one minute to combine. Scrape down bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula.

With mixer on medium speed, add butter one tablespoon at a time. Wait for each tablespoon of butter to incorporate before adding next tablespoon.

After all butter is added, mix dough for couple minutes. Dough should be thick and smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low and add dried soaked fruits and peel. Mix until fruits incorporate throughout dough.

Remove bowl from the mixer, cover it with the cling film and let it rise for couple hours. Two rises for panettone are essential, therefore patience nts is truly a virtue in in this case. When the dough has risen for at least 2 hours, or double the size, place the bowl back on the mixer and slowly run through with the paddle attachment. Literally, just a couple of turns to beat the air out.

Transfer dough to greased panettone tin with the baking paper tight around it with the string about 10cm higher than the tin brim. That is to safe the dough from ‘climbing’ out when rising second time. Cover it up with a plastic wrap and let it rise again at least 1 hour.

In the mean time preheat the oven to 180’C

When Panettone has risen and the oven is hot, you can now bake it, but firstly, brush the top with a little milk and bake for around an hour.

After around half way you might need to covet the top with a foil for it not to brown too quickly.

Check with a skewer after 40min whether it has baked, if it still very sticky inside. If the skewer comes out stuck with a dough, might want to return it to the oven for other 10-15minutes.

When Panettone is baked, take it out of the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 10-15minutes, then carefully turn it out and leave to rest on the wire rack before slicing.