Sweet Bread – Pan Dulce

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Submitted by: Guadalupe S.
Recipe Source Country: Mexiko (Latin Amerika)
Cooking/Prep time: more than 2 hours

Ingredients:

  • For the pre-baked sweet bread dough:
    • 2 tbsp. flour
    • 1 tbsp. sugar
    • 1 dash of warm milk
    • 30 g. fresh yeast
  • For the sweet bread:
    • 500g. of flour 000
    • 2 eggs
    • 200 ml milk
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 60g. sugar (if you feel like sweeter you can add a little more, about 100g)
    • 80g. of butter
    • 1 tsp. vanilla essence
    • Optional (almost all sweet bread recipes have this): orange blossom or panettone essence.
  • Filling:
    • Sultanas (soaked in brandy)
    • Walnuts
    • Glazed fruit
  • Glaze:
    • Icing sugar
    • Water
    • Lemon

Directions:

  1. Place the ingredients for the pre-dough in a bowl. Remember that the milk must be lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. It is just a trickle. Mix well with a spoon, cover with a liner or cling film and leave to double in volume (about 15-20 minutes).
  2. Put the flour, sugar, lemon and orange zest in a large bowl and mix. Make a well in the centre and put the salt (around it, not in the centre), the eggs, the butter, the warm milk, the pre-risen dough and the vanilla essence. Mix by hand from the centre outwards until well combined. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for 15 minutes until the dough is soft. Then cover with cling film and leave to rise for half an hour.
  3. Once the dough has risen, flatten each bun to degas and roll out into a square shape on the counter (by hand). Place the filling in the centre, make a roll and knead for a while longer, until the nuts, sultanas, etc. are well integrated into the dough. Place in the moulds, cover with a lining and leave to rise for 1 hour.
  4. Bake the panettone for 30-40 minutes at 180º, until golden brown on top. Remove and leave to cool. If you don’t want to make the glaze, you can brush the top with egg or sprinkle with icing sugar.
  5. To make the icing: mix 2 tablespoons of icing sugar with a dash of water and two or three drops of lemon juice. Beat until well blended and add on top of the panettone.

More information:

  • Filling for sweet bread: The traditional filling is walnuts, almonds, candied fruit and sultanas, but you can make it with whatever you like, for example chocolate or other nuts.
  • If you use sultanas, I recommend soaking them in brandy the night before.
  • When you knead the panettone with the filling in it, be careful not to break the dough too much.
  • If you are baking without a baking pan, I also recommend putting something between the pan and the dough to prevent it from burning during baking (it can be butter paper or aluminium foil).
  • Once the glaze is dry, nuts can be added on top.
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