Homemade Vegan Panettone

Questa ricetta è disponibile anche in italiano

Nothing beats a homemade fluffy and aromatic Panettone in the holiday season. Here’s my 100% vegan take on this Italian classic!

This recipe is featured in my brand new e-book!

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Are we still on time to bake some Panettone?!
Indeed we are!

With this long tested recipe, you will achieve a vegan, fluffy panettone in as little as 1 day, that smells and feels like the real deal, and tastes better than any store bought!

I thought I couldn’t make it for this festive season, but eventually all of my efforts paid off and I can finally present a recipe for a vegan panettone that I’m proud about!

A few heads up…

I started experimenting in early November with a sourdough starter, but eventually I decided to leave it out in place of the instant yeast because I felt it was more stable and consistent, as well as largely replicable, especially for those that are not confident enough or don’t have any starter.

For those that don’t know, making panettone is almost like an art. You have to (must, actually) give the dough the time it needs to develop the best structure as well as the perfect rise. Nobody can rush that, so we won’t.

If you’re looking for a shortcut recipe, I’m afraid you have to look elsewhere and (most definitely) be prepared to be underwhelmed.

This is the shorter you can get, and I can already hear the most renewed Italian masters telling me off for what I dare to call with the actual name, despite it missing a few key-and-unreplaceable ingredients of the traditional recipe. So sorry folks, I am a vegan that used to enjoy this festive treat during the holidays, that managed to have achieved a complete plant based version of it MINUS the cruelty. So to me this only can be considered a win.

In fact, the main (tedious) ingredient to substitute in this recipe were indeed the eggs. The two non vegan ingredients that the traditional recipe calls for are basically butter and eggs. Luckily we have access almost worldwide to an array of decent to great plant based alternatives to butter, however, when it comes to substituting a large amount of eggs for a vegan recipe, that’s what the troubles lie within. It is more than fine working with recipes that call for up to three eggs (using the commons eggs substitutes like aquafaba, the plant milk+vinegar+rising agent combo, applesauce, flax or chia seeds, ripe bananas, etc), but it’s when we need to work with more than that that we need to put some extra effort in.

To replicate this I’ve tried different egg substitutes before going with the combo plant milk (soy) + starch (tried both with corn and potato and I couldn’t tell any difference).

Every time I used applesauce the dough didn’t rise (if there’s any scientific reason why it wouldn’t I completely ignore it, actually please do tell me in the comment section, as I’m still curious to find out why it didn’t work). Both times I used applesauce I added it in the last dough, before adding the butter and the fruits and aromas. I used this substitute to replace only “half” of the amount of eggs of the traditional recipe I used to bake when I still was a veggie, for the other half I used milk+starch.

Last year I tried with flax eggs but I didn’t like how it turned out at all.

And I haven’t tried with aquafaba just because I’ve already used it a lot for other baked goods (like these Italian Almond Cookies and all of my unsuccessful attempts to make a vegan nougat) and we really didn’t want more chickpea dishes (seriously, we had them at least once a day for over a weeeeek!).

For the rest we are going to need the usual:
– Flour. A strong, bread flour is important to achieve the best outcome possible. Try not to use all purpose and definitely not self rising flour.
– Butter – Vegan, of course. I used the newly UK released “Flora Salted” which I immediately fell in love with. Your favourite plant butter (not margarine) or vegetarian shortening I’m confident will work a treat.
– Sugar – I tried with both caster and brown, before deciding to only use caster sugar. Caster somehow gave it a better rise. If you want to use brown I’d suggest to only replace up to 40% of the total and grinding it a bit in a food processor before adding it to the dough.
– Raisin + Candied Fruit Peels (typically citrus fruits). As per the traditional recipe. Some people may not like this combo and often substitute (or even add) some chocolate drops instead. If that’s your case just make sure to buy chocolate drops that are suitable for vegans.
– Aroma mix. There are two schools: one that prepare the aroma mix that will flavour the panettone at least 24 hours in advance (up to three days) and the one that does not bother doing so. I’ve always done it at least 12h before incorporating the mix to the dough (as well as soaking and drying the raisins overnight before starting the first dough), but in my last two attempts that weren’t “planned” in advance I just added the ingredients to the dough one by one, and to be completely honest with you, I couldn’t taste any difference!
The “mix” that goes in this Vegan Panettone is madre from: fresh lemon zest, orange extract (although if you can find unwaxed oranges it’s better, unfortunately I couldn’t), vanilla paste (or extract, or pod) and liquid glucose (I also tried with maple and agave but I wasn’t fond).

How to make Vegan Panettone at Home

As mentioned before, making panettone at home is a real art that requires passion, patience and time. The real deal takes up to three days to make, plus you are supposed to (preferably) wait at least 3-4 days before tasting it, to savour this Italian festive dessert at its best.

In this version I’ve already thinned up some steps to make something easily achievable at home, especially when we are very close to the holidays. 

It will take you (only) 13 hours from start to finish (cooling time apart), and this, my friends is as quick as it can be!

Do not trust those quicker versions on the web that claim to make panettone in less time. If you don’t have at least 3 doughs (including the starter mix), ain’t panettone my friends. Maybe just something flavored like it.

But believe me, if you follow my steps and advice you’ll end up with a gorgeous product to be proud of. Most of the time is proofing time anyway. Our actual labour will be of around 1 to 1:30h, depending on your practicality.

But let’s immediately see what are these doughs and how to make them.

First we have to make a starter. This is made from the yeast and only a small amount of flour, sugar and water, and it will allow to activate the yeast which will secondly boost the rise of the second dough.

As soon as the starter (or biga) has tripled its size (after around 1:30h), it’s time to add it to the second dough.

The second dough. This dough is firstly worked with a another little bit of sugar, a bigger portion of flour and the egg replacement. Before proofing it again, we have to add half of room temperature softened vegan butter, a very small bit at a time, and allow the dough to incorporate the fat.
It’s just mesmerising and fascinating how at this point the dough will change its texture and appearance.
Back to proof for a bunch of hours (4-5h this time) until it becomes four times bigger.

In the meantime we can soak the raisins in some hot water for 20-30 minutes and grate the citrus peel to be added in the third and final dough.

After the raisins have soften up, they need to be drained and pat dry with a kitchen cloth or paper. We don’t want to leave any extra moisture to them, otherwise that will compromise the final result.

Third (and final) dough. We first need to add the remaining flour, the plant milk and the sugar to the previous dough and work it well for a few minutes.
Then sugar and all the ingredients of the aroma mix go in (plus some yellow food coloring or turmeric, to give the characteristic eggy colour) and dough gets mixed again for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Next, the remaining room temperature softened butter goes in, once again, a bit at a time, until all well incorporated.

Now it’s time to remove the dough from the mixer bowl and arrange it on the working surface. Please make sure not to use any flour at all from this point on.

Pull the dough with the hands into a big circle or rectangle, and place the candied fruits and the raisins on top of the stretched dough.

Fold the dough so the fruits are evenly distributed, and gently work it on the table to spread the raisins even more.

When you’re happy with the dough, fold the sides to the center of the dough a few times, and roll it into a ball. If you want to make smaller panettones you have to portion the dough before this step.

Transfer the dough into a 1 kg panettone mold and leave to proof for the last time until it quadruple in size.

If you don’t have or want to buy a specific mold you can make it yourself in a couple of minutes.

All you need is a 20 cm (8inch) hinged mould, a pair scissors, measuring tape and baking paper.

First coat the bottom of the mould with a piece of paper. To do so, just place enough paper to cover the bottom dish, then lock the mould together and cut off the excess paper.

Measure a 60 cm long piece of parchment paper and fold it in half from its length. Form a cylinder keeping the folded edge down, tucking one end of the paper into the other as shown in the pictures below.

Alternatively you can purchase them online. I do recommend these 500g ones that I used in the tests (and I didn’t want to wait for another delivery). With these you can easily put the panettone upside down after baking, to make it even fluffier and moist. 

Take the panettone out of the oven while it preheats to 180° C (350°F) temperature. This will allow to form a little dry crust on top of the risen dough. 
Score a cross on top, place a couple of knobs of vegan butter on the cut and bake the vegan homemade panettone for 1 hour, or until the temperature of it hits 95°C.

Allow the panettone to cool down for at least 3 hours at room temperature before sealing it into a food bag to be enjoyed within three weeks.

It’s best if you wait at least a couple of days before opening it, if you can!

Happy holidays my friends! Hope you’ll a wonderful time despite the pandemic this year 🙂 

*all proofing must be done in a warm environment that ranges between 25 to 28°C (77-82°F). The oven with the light on does the trick for me.

I do not recommend to hand work the dough for panettone. You have to have a mixer.

Homemade Vegan Panettone Recipe

Ingredients (total for 1 kg mould):
450 Flour (strong)
200 g Plant Milk (Soy)
155 g Sugar (Caster)
150 g Raisins
100 g Salted Butter (plus 1 tbsp on top)
100 g Candied Fruits
50 g Cornstarch (or Potato)
30 g Liquid Glucose
1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract (or 1 pod seeds)
2 Lemons (zest)
1 Orange (zest) or 1/2 tsp Orange Extract
1/2 tsp Turmeric or Yellow Food Coloring
4 g Instant Yeast

For each dough:
..for the starter/biga..
30 g Strong Flour
20 g Lukewarm Water
5 g Caster Sugar
4 g Instant Yeast
…for the second dough…
1st Dough
150 g Strong Flour
150 g Soy Milk
50 g Cornstarch
50 g Room Temperature Softened Vegan Salted Butter or Shortening
20 g Sugar
…for the third dough…
2nd Dough
270 g Strong Flour
130 g Sugar
50 g Soy Milk
50 g Room Temperature Softened Vegan Salted Butter or Shortening
30 g Liquid Glucose
1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract (or 1 pod seeds)
2 Lemons (zest)
1 Orange (zest) or 1/2 tsp Orange Extract
1/2 tsp Turmeric or Yellow Food Coloring
…plus…
150 g Raisins (or Vegan Dark Chocolate Drops)
100 g Candied Fruit Peels
1 tbsp Vegan Butter

Method:
1. For the starter. Weight the flour, the sugar and the instant yeast in a bowl. Add lukewarm water and work the ingredients with a spatula until they come up together. Shape into a ball and allow to rise it until it triples its size (around 1:30h).
2. The second dough. Transfer the risen starter into the mixer bowl. Add the flour, the sugar, the starch and the plant milk (at room temperature) of the second dough and work with the flat (or flex) beater attachment for approx 10 minutes.
3. Add the room temperature softened vegan butter (if you don’t have it salted, also add a small pinch of salt), a very small bit at a time, and let the dough incorporating the fat.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover with film and allow to proof in the oven with the only the light switched on (or in a warm place between between 25 to 28°C/77-82°F. Anything more or below this range will kill the yeast.). This second proof will take around 4 to 5 hours.
5. Soak the raisins in some hot water for 20-30 minutes and grate the citrus peel to be added in the next dough.
6. After the raisins have soften up, they need to be drained and pat dry with a kitchen cloth or paper (we don’t want to leave any extra moisture to them, otherwise that will compromise the final result).
7. After the dough has quadrupled its size, we are ready to move on the third and final dough. Place the bowl back into the mixer, add the flour and the plant milk to the previous dough and work it well for a few minutes.
8. Now add the sugar, the colouring or turmeric, and all the ingredients of the aroma mix (lemon zest, orange, vanilla and glucose) and keep mixing for another 3 to 5 minutes.
9. Next, the remaining room temperature softened butter goes in, once again, a bit at a time, until all well incorporated.
10. Switch the attachment to the hook and work the dough for as long as it needs to get “see through” (you’ll know that you’re there when by pulling a bit of dough from the hook it is super stretchy and it allows you to see through the thin layer between the rest of the dough and your hand, as shown in the following picture).

11. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and arrange it on the working surface. Refrain to use any extra flour.
12. Pull the dough with the hands into a big circle or rectangle, and place the candied fruits and the raisins on top of the stretched dough.
13. Fold the dough so the fruits are evenly distributed, and gently work it on the table to spread the raisins even more.
14. When you’re happy with the dough, fold the sides to the center of the dough a few times, and roll it into a ball. If you want to make smaller panettones you have to portion the dough before this step.
15. Transfer the dough into a 1 kg panettone mold and leave to proof for the last time until it quadruple in size (see notes if you don’t have a proper panettone mould). This will take around 5 hours. Do not worry, it is completely normal for the dough not to rise in the first couple of hours.
16. Take the panettone out of the oven while it preheats to 180° C (350°F) temperature. This will allow to form a little dry crust on top of the risen dough. 
17. Score a cross on top, place a couple of knobs of vegan butter on the cut and bake the vegan homemade panettone for 1 hour, or until the temperature of it hits 95°C. 
18. Allow the panettone to cool down for at least 3 hours at room temperature before sealing it into a food bag to be enjoyed within three weeks. It is advised to wait at least a couple of days before opening it, but if you can’t or don’t want to wait that long you can enjoy it as well.

This recipe is featured in my brand new e-book!

Get your copy now with 50% off (limited to the first 50 purchases).

GET COUPON HERE!

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5 from 7 votes

Homemade Vegan Panettone

Nothing beats a homemade fluffy and aromatic Panettone in the holiday season. Here's my 100% vegan take on this Italian classic!

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Proofing Time 10 hours hours

Total Time 12 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients (total for 1 kg mould):

• ▢ 450 Flour strong
• ▢ 200 g Plant Milk Soy
• ▢ 155 g Sugar Caster
• ▢ 150 g Raisins
• ▢ 100 g Salted Butter plus 1 tbsp on top
• ▢ 100 g Candied Fruits
• ▢ 50 g Cornstarch or Potato
• ▢ 30 g Liquid Glucose
• ▢ 1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract or 1 pod seeds
• ▢ 2 Lemons zest
• ▢ 1 Orange zest or 1/2 tsp Orange Extract
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Turmeric or Yellow Food Coloring
• ▢ 4 g Instant Yeast

For each dough:

..for the starter/biga..

• ▢ 30 g Strong Flour
• ▢ 20 g Lukewarm Water
• ▢ 5 g Caster Sugar
• ▢ 4 g Instant Yeast

...for the second dough...

• ▢ 1 st Dough
• ▢ 150 g Strong Flour
• ▢ 150 g Soy Milk
• ▢ 50 g Cornstarch
• ▢ 50 g Room Temperature Softened Vegan Salted Butter or Shortening
• ▢ 20 g Sugar

...for the third dough...

• ▢ 2 nd Dough
• ▢ 270 g Strong Flour
• ▢ 130 g Sugar
• ▢ 50 g Soy Milk
• ▢ 50 g Room Temperature Softened Vegan Salted Butter or Shortening
• ▢ 30 g Liquid Glucose
• ▢ 1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract or 1 pod seeds
• ▢ 2 Lemons zest
• ▢ 1 Orange zest or 1/2 tsp Orange Extract
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Turmeric or Yellow Food Coloring

...plus...

• ▢ 150 g Raisins or Vegan Dark Chocolate Drops
• ▢ 100 g Candied Fruit Peels
• ▢ 1 tbsp Vegan Butter

12 people

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Instructions

• ▢
  For the starter. Weight the flour, the sugar and the instant yeast in a bowl. Add lukewarm water and work the ingredients with a spatula until they come up together. Shape into a ball and allow to rise it until it triples its size (around 1:30h).
• ▢
  The second dough. Transfer the risen starter into the mixer bowl. Add the flour, the sugar, the starch and the plant milk (at room temperature) of the second dough and work with the flat (or flex) beater attachment for approx 10 minutes.
• ▢
  Add the room temperature softened vegan butter (if you don't have it salted, also add a small pinch of salt), a very small bit at a time, and let the dough incorporating the fat.
• ▢
  Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover with film and allow to proof in the oven with the only the light switched on (or in a warm place between between 25 to 28°C/77-82°F. Anything more or below this range will kill the yeast.). This second proof will take around 4 to 5 hours.
• ▢
  Soak the raisins in some hot water for 20-30 minutes and grate the citrus peel to be added in the next dough.
• ▢
  After the raisins have soften up, they need to be drained and pat dry with a kitchen cloth or paper (we don't want to leave any extra moisture to them, otherwise that will compromise the final result).
• ▢
  After the dough has quadrupled its size, we are ready to move on the third and final dough. Place the bowl back into the mixer, add the flour and the plant milk to the previous dough and work it well for a few minutes.
• ▢
  Now add the sugar, the colouring or turmeric, and all the ingredients of the aroma mix (lemon zest, orange, vanilla and glucose) and keep mixing for another 3 to 5 minutes.
• ▢
  Next, the remaining room temperature softened butter goes in, once again, a bit at a time, until all well incorporated.
• ▢
  Switch the attachment to the hook and work the dough for as long as it needs to get "see through" (you'll know that you're there when by pulling a bit of dough from the hook it is super stretchy and it allows you to see through the thin layer between the rest of the dough and your hand, as shown in the following picture).
• ▢
  Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and arrange it on the working surface. Refrain to use any extra flour.
• ▢
  Pull the dough with the hands into a big circle or rectangle, and place the candied fruits and the raisins on top of the stretched dough.
• ▢
  Fold the dough so the fruits are evenly distributed, and gently work it on the table to spread the raisins even more.
• ▢
  When you're happy with the dough, fold the sides to the center of the dough a few times, and roll it into a ball. If you want to make smaller panettones you have to portion the dough before this step.
• ▢
  Transfer the dough into a 1 kg panettone mold and leave to proof for the last time until it quadruple in size (see notes if you don't have a proper panettone mould). This will take around 5 hours. Do not worry, it is completely normal for the dough not to rise in the first couple of hours.
• ▢
  Take the panettone out of the oven while it preheats to 180° C (350°F) temperature. This will allow to form a little dry crust on top of the risen dough. Note: the top will turn brown after 10-15 minutes, make sure to cover it with some foil and remove it in the last 5-10 minutes to prevent the panettone from burning on the outside.
• ▢
  Score a cross on top, place a couple of knobs of vegan butter on the cut and bake the vegan homemade panettone for 1 hour, or until the temperature of it hits 95°C.
• ▢
  Allow the panettone to cool down for at least 3 hours at room temperature before sealing it into a food bag to be enjoyed within three weeks. It is advised to wait at least a couple of days before opening it, but if you can't or don't want to wait that long you can enjoy it as well.

Notes

Please note: all proofing must be done in a warm environment that ranges between 25 to 28°C (77-82°F). The oven with the light on does the trick for me.

I do not recommend to hand work the dough for panettone. You have to have a mixer.

To make the mould at home:
Coat the bottom of a 8 inch (20 cm) round hinged mould with a piece of paper. To do so, just place enough paper to cover the bottom dish, then lock the mould together and cut off the excess paper.
Measure a 60 cm long piece of parchment paper and fold it in half from its length. Form a cylinder keeping the folded edge down, tucking one end of the paper into the other as shown in the pictures below.

Alternatively you can purchase them online. I do recommend these 500g ones that I used in the tests (and I didn't want to wait for another delivery). With these you can easily put the panettone upside down before baking, to make it even fluffier and moist. 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Potassium: 64mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 280IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg

Did you like this recipe?Follow @avegtastefromatoz and tag #avegtastefromatoz when you try it!

This recipe is featured in my brand new e-book!

Get your copy now with 50% off (limited to the first 50 purchases).

GET COUPON HERE!