Gluten Free Panettone
with Amarena Cherries, Chocolate and Pistachio
Hello friends,
Today I bring you a recipe for gluten free panettone. A lightly sweet Italian bread filled with fruit, nuts and chocolate that is traditionally eaten around the holidays. Mine contains one of my very favorite ingredients Amarena cherries, incredibly delicious jarred sour cherries in syrup that I just look for an excuse to purchase, so thanks this recipe was my reason! You can use other cherries in syrup like Luxardo brand, but make sure whatever brand you choose is gluten free! I also added pistachios and dark chocolate because those flavors scream Christmas to me.
The dough used here is based on my cinnamon roll recipe with a bit more sugar and a slightly different technique. I love the inclusion of orange zest, it really complements the cherries.
To make them in the traditional shape, I think it’s easiest to use panettone papers, which you can order online or pick up at a baking or craft supply store. The link above is to the ones I used. The papers are supportive enough not to need a tin around them.
The secret to a really wonderful panettone, gluten free or not, is to cool the bread/cakes upside down. Professional bakeries have special rotating racks for this, but I just thread a skewer through the breads and hang them upside down over a pot (pictured below.) As in an angel food cake, this really helps keep an open crumb and lets gravity work in your favor for a light fluffy loaf. I suggest eating these as is, toasted with butter or pistachio cream (see this video on my instagram for more on that), or as the BEST French toast ever on Christmas morning.
Happy Baking!
Gluten Free Amarena Cherry,
Chocolate and Pistachio Panettone
Yield: Two Small Panettone
Dough:
3c (720 g) milk
1/3 c (30g) psyllium husks (or 30g psyllium husk powder)
¼c (60g) orange juice (or lemon)
zest of one small orange
1/3 cup (76g) sugar
1 ½ Tb (14g) instant yeast
2 tsp (12g) fine salt
1 c (160g) tapioca flour
1 ¼ c (160g) brown rice flour
1 2/3 c (190g) sorghum flour
½ c (31g) potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes or potato flour)
2 eggs
Filling:
1 cup Amarena cherries (or other candied cherries, like Luxardo) drained of liquid
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup shelled pistachios
To bake:
1 egg (for egg wash)
3 Tb sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
Mix together the milk, juice and psyllium just to combine, let sit 5-10 minutes to thicken.
Mix zest, sugar, yeast, salt, flours, and potato flakes together in a stand mixer or bowl. Add milk mixture and eggs and mix with a mixer or your hands 15-20 minutes until a smooth ball -forms. It will significantly thicken as you mix. Add the cherries, chocolate, and nuts.Â
Split the dough in half, roll each half into a ball and put into 4-inch paper panettone molds. Â Then cover with a tea towel and let rise 1 hour until roughly doubled.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.   Mix the cinnamon and sugar together, beat the egg and paint the tops of the risen dough with the egg wash. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake the 2 panettoni on a sheet pan for 40 minutes until the internal temperature is 205F.
Let the panettone cool for 10 minutes, then insert bamboo skewers through the breads and the paper collars. Turn the panettone upside down and hang it by the skewers across a large pot to cool completely upside down.
