Gino D'Acampo's panettone classico recipe

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This Gino D'Acampo panettone recipe is an Italian Christmas cake that's too good to be eaten just once a year - you'll find you'll make it again and again!

Gino D'Acampo's panettone classico
Serves6
Preparation Time25 mins (plus 3 hrs resting time)
Cooking Time1 hours 25 mins
Total Time4 hours 50 mins
Nutrition Per PortionRDA
Calories633 Kcal32%
Sugar35.1 g39%
Fat26.7 g38%
Saturated Fat15.2 g76%
Salt0.84 gRow 4 - Cell 2
Protein14.3 g29%
Carbohydrates83.2 g32%
Salt0.84 gRow 7 - Cell 2

The Panettone recipe by This Morning's Gino D'Acampo is the perfect way to learn how to make panettone in time to present a scrumptious homemade panettone by Christmas time.

Gino D'Acampo's Panettone classico is a delizioso Italian sweet bread loaf, made only the way an Italian chef knows how. This homemade panettone recipe is a Christmas cake that's too good to be eaten just once a year, so you'll find yourself making it time and time again!

The natural yeast in this recipe will give the panettone a nice rise to it, which is exactly what you want - it should be really light and fluffy. This panettone is full of mixed dried fruit, another reason why it's such a treat. Panettone makes a really nice gift, if you want to give someone a homemade Christmas present, so learn how to make panettone at home for a novel festive gift idea. If you use nice ribbon to tie around it and some cellophane, you can wrap it up really nicely for a fab homemade gift!

Panettone is best served at room temperature with a cup of tea - make it when you're expecting friends round and trust us, they will be so impressed! Love festive cooking? We've got loads more lovely Christmas recipes right here!

Ingredients

  • 15g fresh yeast
  • 125ml full-fat milk, warm
  • 400g strong white flour plus extra for dusting
  • 3 pinches of salt
  • 16g fresh yeast
  • 125ml full-fat milk, warm
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 150g salted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for brushing
  • 120g mixed candied peel, chopped
  • 60g raisins

WEIGHT CONVERTER

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Method

  1. Brush a 15cm diameter cake tin or soufflé dish with a little butter then line with a double layer of greaseproof paper and ensure that you leave a ‘collar’ of paper 8cm above the top of the tin. Oil the inside of a large bowl.
  2. Melt the yeast in the milk, making sure that it is completely dissolved.
  3. Setting aside 2 tablespoons of the flour, sift the remaining amount into a large bowl, sprinkle over the salt and make a well in the centre. Pour in the yeast and milk with the whole eggs and gently mix all the ingredients together to make a thick batter. Sprinkle over the reserved flour and leave the sponge in a warm place for 35 minutes.
  4. Add in the sugar and egg yolks and mix together to create soft dough, then work in the soft butter then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic and shape into a ball.
  5. Place the dough ball in the oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave it to rise in a warm place away from draughts for 2 hours.
  6. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Gently knead in the candied peel and raisins. Shape again into a ball and place in the prepared tin. Cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise in a warm place away from draughts for 1 hour.
  7. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.
  8. Use a sharp knife to cut a cross on the top and brush with a little butter.
  9. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4, brush the top with more butter and continue to cook for a further 30 minutes.
  10. Once out of the oven, cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
  11. Panettone is perfect served at room temperature with a cup of tea.
Top Tip for making Gino D'Acampo's panettone classico

You can substitute chocolate chips for the dried fruit for a sweeter cake

How should you serve panettone?

Panettone can be eaten in more than one way which helps make it such a popular choice for a Christmas treat. If you wanted to enjoy it as more of a savoury treat, try toasting a few slices for your cheeseboard. If you have more of a sweet tooth, try toasting and then slavering it in butter with a little acacia honey and cinnamon for a delicious treat. You could also serve it really simply as a dessert with some chocolate or caramel dipping sauce.

Gino D’Acampo is a much-loved, cheeky TV chef who often appears on ITV’s popular daytime chat show This Morning. Born into a large family in Napoli, Italy, Gino’s been working in kitchens since he was young and fell in love with the industry age 11 when he walked into his grandfather’s restaurant. Gino’s Italian heritage has a huge influence on his recipes. From a classic margherita pizza to a four-cheese macaroni cheese with peas, we’re sure to have a Gino D’Acampo recipe your whole family will love! With three children of his own it is perhaps no surprise that so many of Gino’s recipes are perfect for the hustle and bustle of a busy home. As well as regularly appearing on This Morning to share his culinary skills and the odd cheeky joke or two, Gino has also had several TV shows of his own including most recently Gino’s Italian Coastal Escape which aired in November 2018 on ITV. He also won over much of the nation back in 2009 when he was crowned winner of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Gino has several best-selling cookbooks out including Gino’s Pasta, Home Baking and Gino’s Italian Escape. At the heart of all of his recipes is the belief that good ingredients can speak for themselves. On his website Gino explains: ‘My grandfather said that a good recipe doesn’t need lots and lots of ingredients because if the ingredients are top quality and full of flavour, why would you want to cover up or change their taste