My Festive Mini Panettone

I made these late one night to take to a Coffee Morning the next day.  They would be a fab addition to a gift hamper of treats for Christmas or just to devour with a cuppa or as breakfast on Christmas Morning.  The Mini Panettone went down very well at the Coffee Morning with our vicar Sue declaring that "they are better than good sex!"  High praise indeed. *giggle*  I shall definitely be baking several more batches of them this festive season as they are now very much in demand.  I wonder why?!

I made mine in disposable mini loaf tins but you could use lined muffin tins to bake them in instead.

500g strong white bread flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp dried yeast
120ml lukewarm milk
2 medium free range eggs
2 medium free range egg yolks
150g butter softened
75g caster sugar
150g mixed fruit
50g dried cranberries

I made these in my stand mixer but you can just as easily make them by hand.  Put the flour into a mixing bowl, add the salt and make a well in the centre. Warm the milk in a measuring jug the microwave (or saucepan) until it is lukewarm - too hot and it will kill the yeast.  Whisk the yeast and whole eggs into the warmed milk.  Pour into the well you made in the flour and mix a little flour into the liquid so that it is the consistency of custard.  Leave the mixture to rest for about half an hour.

Add the egg yolks, butter and sugar into the bowl with the flour.  Mix everything together until thoroughly and totally combined. 

Knead the dough for 5 - 7 minutes.  Cover the dough and leave to prove until doubled in size, this can take up to 2 hours so be patient.  Scatter over the dried fruit and gently knead them through the dough which will help knock the dough back.

Divide the dough into 12 and put into the lined muffin tin holes or mini loaf moulds.  I try to make sure that there is no dried fruit exposed on the surface of the loaves because it can get overcooked during cooking and taste bitter.  Set aside the dough, covered with greased cling film, and prove for an hour.

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4 then bake the loaves for 20 minutes.  You can brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter and sprinkle with caster sugar before you bake them if you like.  I did this the next morning then put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4 to warm through before they were enthusiastically devoured.