Individual Panettone....IN TIN CANS!!!

Don’t fret don’t fret...this is not me ‘getting my Christmas on’, not yet anyway (you should SEE what’s going on in my head though....look at my pinterest Christmas board to see all the excitement that I’m dying to let out). Nono, I’m holding it in (deep breaths) and am nowhere NEAR pressing play on Band Aid or turning the mulled wine on to heat (deeper breaths).

I aaaam aware, however, that December is imminent, that the planning/panicking thing has begun for many and that Stir-Up Sunday has been and gone now so having the odd idea floating around is no bad thing. It’s no use me giving you a load of Christmassy ideas just a few days before the big event...you need to write shopping lists, plan menus, make place cards....No? You’re not a mental control freak? You just intend to see how it goes and enjoy it? Okkkkkkkkkaaaay, whatever suits you best (*weeeirdooo*).

So I have for you ....panettone. I LOVE it, but had never made it before. It seemed specialist and a little bit alien from by kitchen....I mean who owns a Panettone tin? Not me, and if not me then definitely not you. But then I saw a recipe for individual panettones made in tins...TINS...I have looooads of tins. Baked beans come in tins.....I ALWAYS eat baked beans.

I was a bit worried about how they would turn out...how many times I would cut my hands on the tins...how much  dough would stick inside the tin and how sad that would make me. But it all turned out brilliantly and they look just like panettone, and taste like panettone and are super cute and EASY. Waahooo. I’m pretty sure I will make these again as the festivities get closer but I am SO glad I tried early so I could tell you about them. Go on...go eat beans. With Love and Cake. 

Individual Panettone.

A few notes:

• If you are a kitchen swot and dooo have a panettone tin, this recipe will happily make one larger one...just cook for a bit longer, more like 40 minutes.
• If you want to make a large one but don't have a panettone tin, you could definitely use a 20cm high sided cake tin and again, cook for around 40 minutes. The loaf will just be a little squatter than a traditional panettone, I'm sure it would still taste divine though. 
• If you are indeed using cans, it's best to use ones that you have opened with a can opened rather than them already having a ring pull, which leaves a lip and will make it hard to get the panettone out.

Makes 6 individual panettone

You will need

6 empty tins, cleaned and label removed

greaseproof paper

a good hunk of butter, melted

1 tsp caster sugar

3 tsp dried yeast

4 tbsp warm water

100g butter, at room temp

50g caster sugar

3 eggs

zest 1/2 lemon

400g strong white bread flour

1 tsp salt

100g currants or raisins

75g mixed peel

• First we make the dough. In a small bowl, stir together the tsp of caster sugar, yeast and milk and set aside.
• In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until pale in colour and light and fluffy in texture.
• Add the eggs and beat in one at a time followed by the lemon zest.
• Gently stir in the flour and salt and finally add the yeast mixture which, by now, should be very frothy and foamy.
• Mix with your hands to form a smooth dough and then turn out onto a clean surface to knead for about 5 minutes, at which point the dough should be shiny and stretchy.
• Pop the dough back into its bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere fairly warm and cosy for around an hour.
• Meanwhile, line the tins. Cut out a circle of greaseproof paper to fit the base of each tin and a rectangle to line the sides. 
• Brush the inside of each tin with plenty of melted butter, and then, using the buttery pastry brush to help you, poke your circles of paper to the bottom and roll the rectangles up and pop inside each tin to line the sides.
• When the dough has about doubled in size, tip it out of the bowl and knead in the dried fruit by flattening the dough, sprinkling a handful of fruit over it and folding and kneading the dough around it, repeating the process until all the fruit is incorporated.
• Split the dough into 6 and drop each piece into a tin. 
• Sit the tins on a baking sheet and keep the baking sheet cosy and warm until the dough has risen almost as far as the top of the tins; this should take 1-2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 190°c and bake the panettone for 20-25 minutes, at which point they should be bronzed on top and poking out the top of the tins.
• Leave them to cool in the tins until you can easily handle them. They should then just fall out of the tins with very little bother....are you proud yet??