Holidays & Special Occasions
Pan Dulce
Ingredients
- - 500 g (4 cups) plain flour
- - 80 g (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) sugar
- - 10 g (2 tsp) instant yeast
- - 2 eggs
- - 120 ml (1/2 cup) warm milk
- - 120 g (1/2 cup) butter, softened
- - 1 tsp vanilla extract
- - Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
- - 150 g (1 cup) raisins, soaked in rum
- - 100 g (1 cup) candied fruit, chopped
- - 100 g (3/4 cup) walnuts or almonds, chopped
- - Icing sugar, to dust
Method
- Combine flour, sugar and yeast. Add eggs and warm milk, then knead into a dough, gradually working in the softened butter until smooth and elastic.
- Mix in vanilla and citrus zest. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1.5-2 hours until doubled.
- Drain the soaked raisins and gently knead them, along with the candied fruit and nuts, into the dough.
- Shape into a round and place in a tall panettone mould or lined tin. Cover and proof again for 1-1.5 hours until it has risen well above the rim.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35-45 minutes, tenting with foil if it browns too quickly, until a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and slicing.
Introduction: Pan dulce, Argentina’s take on Italian panettone, is a sweet, fruit-and-nut-studded bread that appears on every table at Christmas and New Year, brought over by Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and now considered an essential part of the Argentine holiday table alongside cider and turrón.
Cultural Background: Pan dulce, Argentina’s take on Italian panettone, is a sweet, fruit-and-nut-studded bread that appears on every table at Christmas and New Year, brought over by Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and now considered an essential part of the Argentine holiday table alongside cider and turrón.
Tips: Soaking the raisins in rum or warm water plumps them and stops them drying out the crumb. Cool fully before slicing, or the interior can appear gummy even when fully baked.
Variations: Budín de pan dulce: leftover pan dulce repurposed into a bread pudding, a common post-holiday tradition.
Vegetarian/Vegan: Vegetarian: Naturally vegetarian. Vegan: Use vegan butter, a flax-egg substitute, and plant milk; texture will be denser than the classic version.
Storage: Store wrapped at room temperature for up to 5 days; freezes well for up to 2 months.
Reheating: Not typically reheated; served at room temperature, though a light toast of sliced leftovers is common.
Nutrition: Per slice (approx. 80 g): 290 kcal, 6 g protein, 10 g fat, 42 g carbohydrate, 2 g fibre.
FAQs:
Q: Can I make pan dulce without alcohol? A: Yes – soak the raisins in warm water or orange juice instead of rum.
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