Culinary Adventures with Camilla

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Savoring Italy and runs smoothly with the help of Heather of All Roads Lead to the Kitchen , and the rest of our fabulous bakers. This month we are baking Holiday Breads that are perfect to celebrate the holiday season. For more bread recipes, visit the #TwelveLoaves Pinterest board , or check out last month's inspiring selection of #TwelveLoaves Thanksgiving Biscuits and Rolls! This month's Holiday Bread Basket includes... Buttermilk Honey Santa Bread from Kudos Kitchen  Cranberry Cinnamon Swirl Bread from Baking in Pyjamas  Christmas Morning Crown from All That's Left are the Crumbs  Cranberry Orange Muffins from Hostess at Heart  Fruity Santa Bread from Cheap Ethnic Eatz  Pandolce Genovese from Savoring Italy  Pecan Kringle from Karen's Kitchen Stories  The Precise Kitchen Elf's Panettone from Culinary Adventures with Camilla  If you'd like to bak...

When the sign-up email came for an international dish for his grade's holiday celebration, Riley didn't miss a beat: "Italy. Mom, let's make panettone . You can make panettone , right?!" "I guess so." [In my head: It's less than $10 as Trader Joe's!] "How about I help you make it?" I suggested. He agreed. So, I set out looking for a panettone recipe. I looked at one labeled 'easy' and instantly doubted its authenticity. How can you make that delicious, fluffy goodness in three hours total? Then I looked up one that was labeled 'authentic' and it required a week of pre-ferment and that I make a poolish. I only had two days and what is a poolish?  I decided to create our own version. No surprise there. It's somewhere between a Buttery Brioche and a Pane di Pasqua . And I only thought we were going to buy dried fruits for it. Riley informed me, as we were leaving to pick up ingredients, that we were going to...

After the panettone is baked, it needs to hang. Yes, hang. Upside down. So that it doesn't compress as it cools. I stuck it with skewers and balanced them on cardboard boxes. And there you have it: Riley's panettone. All done and ready for his class's holiday party tomorrow. We tasted the mini one and it was delicious! Nice job, my lil' baker! Bravo.

After the second rise, let the dough come to room temperature for at least an hour. Use a spatula to fold 20 tablespoons of softened butter into the dough Divide the dough into three pieces. For them into rounds. Place the dough into the parchment panettone liners. Let the dough rise - for the third time - at room temperature for 3 hours. During the last 20 minutes of the rise, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Once the oven is heated, place the breads in the lower half of the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes...until the breads are golden and sound hollow when tapped.

After the first overnight rise, we were ready for part two: the second rise. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. This is what the dough looked like in the morning. With a spatula, fold 1 C of diced  candied citrus into the dough.  It will deflate slightly. Don't worry. It'll rise for another 8-9 hours again. Back in the fridge!

1 C warm water 2 T active dry yeast 6 T organic granulated sugar 12 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 9 C all-purpose flour splash of olive oil splash of pure vanilla extract 2 C organic raisins Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let bloom for 5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well mixed. With the mixer on low speed, add 2 C of the flour and the salt and mix for 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low, add the remainder of the flour and mix for 5 more minutes. Gently incorporate the raisins with a spatula. Then scrape the dough into a large oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

I am not big on plain ol' oranges. Blood oranges, clementines, pumelo, any other citrus and I am excited. So I shouldn't be too surprised that when we were selecting citrus to candy for his holiday panettone , Riley picked kumquats, grapefruits, and limes. Okey dokey. And a quick note: use organic. You're spending time and money to eat the peels; you don't want to be consuming chemicals and pesticides! Ingredients 2 C water 2 C organic granulated sugar + more for rolling 12 oz kumquats, washed and dried 1 grapefruit 2 limes Procedure Slice the kumquats into quarters. Peel the grapefruit and limes and slice into strips. Place all of the citrus in a large, flat-bottom pan. Add cold water until they are floating. Bring the pan to a boil. Drain. Add cold water until they are floating and bring to a boil again. Drain. Repeat a third time. Then create a simple syrup by bringing the water and sugar to a simmer and cooking till t...