Easter cake with candied fruits from Maria Troitskaya

Description

Once, while traveling in Italy, I tried a real Pannetone. And I immediately got the idea to cook it at home for loved ones. However, at that moment I did not yet know that this is a rather complex and painstaking process that takes time. Then I decided to invent my own recipe for Panettone, the same airy and fragrant, but simpler and faster to prepare. After playing with the ingredients and proportions, this cake recipe was born with a delicate crumb and rich taste. I share the recipe for an amazing Easter cake (Panettone). He conquered me to the very heart. Of course, this is a very simple recipe, based on dough, not sourdough. The main secret of the perfect cake is good flour (I have it with a lot of gluten!), homemade candied fruits, a lot of stuffing, pre-aged in alcohol, and a beautiful decoration on top. Everything is very simple.

Cooking

Step 1

Prepare candied fruits in advance. Wash oranges and lemon thoroughly with a brush. Trim the skin of 6 oranges into strips 1-2 cm wide to leave some orange pulp on the rind. Pour the crusts with water, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Drain the water, rinse the crusts with cold water. Add water again, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour cold water over. Lay the zest on a wire rack and let dry. This procedure will relieve candied fruit from bitterness. Place the star anise, crushed peppercorns, powdered sugar, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and the juice of one lemon in a saucepan. Pour in 1 liter of water, bring to a boil. Put the crusts into the syrup, reduce the heat to a minimum and cook with the lid loosely closed for 1-1.30 hours. Time will vary, you need to keep an eye on the pan. At the end of cooking, add vanilla essence. Pour into a bowl, chill. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight. Throw the candied fruits in a colander and leave to dry for 1 hour. Put the strips on a wire rack, dry, transfer to a container. Roll in sugar or dip in tempered dark chocolate. Cut into cubes for the cake.

Step 2

Divide the eggs into 2 whites and yolk. Leave the white of the third egg to brush the top before baking. All ingredients should be at room temperature, and all windows should be closed in the apartment, and there should be no drafts.

Step 3

For the dough, mix flour, milk, sugar and yeast. Cover with foil and leave for an hour. The dough should rise and double in size. Outwardly, the dough will be layered and similar to breakfast cereal.

Step 4

Grate the zest without touching the white part of the lemon (it adds bitterness and can ruin the taste).

Step 5

Mix the dough with sugar, butter and eggs. Mix thoroughly, you can also use a mixer.

Step 6

Mix flour with salt and put on the table. Gradually adding the dough, start kneading gently. The dough should not stick to your hands. This will take at least 10-15 minutes. Check for the presence of developed gluten in the dough. To do this, you need to pinch off a piece. It will feel like you are stretching chewing gum. But it is also dangerous to mix the dough, because. At some point, the gluten will begin to break down. But this is unlikely to happen when kneading the dough by hand.

Step 7

Add a mixture of nuts, dried fruits, any other additives to taste. To do this, make a recess in the center of the dough, pour dried fruits into it and mix well.

Step 8

Gather the dough into a ball. Lubricate the bowl with oil, put the dough, cover with cling film and forget about it for an hour and a half. The dough will double in volume.

Step 9

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a little. Wrap in a towel to keep it dry and set aside.

Step 10

Prepare the mold for the cake. I prefer to play it safe and oil both silicone and iron molds. You can line the form with baking paper, also oiled and sprinkled with flour. Put the dough into the molds and leave for another 1 hour, covered with a film or a warm towel. Place in a warm, draft-free place.

Step 11

Whisk the egg white with a spoonful of water. Gently and evenly grease the surface of the cakes.

Step 12

In an oven preheated to 180 C, place the molds on the middle shelf. Bake 45-60 minutes or until done. After 20-25, the crown will begin to bake and blacken, so you need to cover it with foil. Check the readiness of the cake with a splinter: it should be dry. Take the cookies out of the mold after they have cooled completely. Decorate as you wish.