Chocolate Panettone

Method

1. To make the Chocolate Panettone, take a medium bowl and add 90 g of the butter, softened beforehand, the cocoa, the vanilla, and the orange zest, and mix until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest overnight at room temperature.
2. The next day, take a small bowl and add 10 ml of the water, 2 g of the yeast, 15 g of the flour, and a pinch of the sugar, and work them into a smooth dough. Shape it into a small ball and put it back in the bowl, then cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.
3. Now put the ball you made earlier in the stand mixer with 125 ml of water and the remaining yeast, crumbled. Run the mixer with the flat beater and, when the mixture is liquid, add 25 g of the flour while the mixer keeps running. Add 75 g of the sugar and then 120 g of the Manitoba flour. Mix until smooth. Now add the cubed butter one piece at a time, keeping a few cubes aside for the top, and add the next piece only when the previous one is fully incorporated. Beat 3 egg yolks and add them to the dough one at a time. Then add more of the flour, one tablespoon at a time. When the mixture starts to firm up, switch to the dough hook. Keep adding flour until the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl. You don’t need to add all the flour, only as much as necessary. As soon as the dough is ready, shape it into a ball and let it rest on a clean work surface for about 20 minutes.
4. Using a dough scraper, cut off a small piece of dough and shape the rest into another ball. Put the large piece of dough to rest in a clean bowl, and put the smaller piece in a tall, narrow glass. Cover both containers with plastic wrap and mark the glass so you can see how much the dough rises. Place both containers in the oven, turned off but with the light on, for about 6 hours, or until the dough has tripled in volume.
5. Meanwhile, chop the chocolate into small flakes and put it in the freezer. Put both pieces of dough in the mixer bowl, punching them down. Turn on the mixer and add the remaining flour, then, when it is fully incorporated, add the remaining sugar and the honey. Add the remaining egg yolks, beaten beforehand, one at a time, then the salt. When the mixture is smooth, add the cocoa butter mixture a little at a time. Then add the chocolate flakes, a little at a time too. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 minutes in the oven, turned off but with the light on.
6. Place the dough on a clean pastry board and let it rest uncovered for at least 15 minutes. Using the dough scraper, round it into a tight ball and leave it uncovered for another 15 minutes, or until it feels tacky. Then round it again and place it in the panettone mold. Put it in the oven, turned off but with the light on, and let it rise for about 8 hours, or until it is 1 cm (½ in) from the rim. With a sharp knife, cut a cross on the surface of the Panettone and fill the cuts with the reserved butter cubes.
7. Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 165 °C (325 °F) for about 50 minutes. Take the panettone out of the oven, pierce it with panettone skewers (or use knitting needles), and let it rest upside down for at least 12 hours. By then the Chocolate Panettone will be completely cool and ready to serve. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!