For our Panettone Cioccolato to live up to its name (yes, cioccolato directly translates to chocolate in Italian), of course we must be very particular with the chocolate itself. The type of chocolate is very important, but also the size of the pieces, its distribution, and the level to which it melts. In addition to the internal chocolate chunks, we also use a chocolate glaze to enrich the surface of the panettone, giving it a crisp delicious texture and flavor on top.
At Antise we have a culture of experimentation. As regards chocolate, we have run the gamut. Of the many dark chocolates we tried, there was too much a trend of poor moisture retention from the high cocoa percentage and also too much of a crunch to the chocolate bits. On the other end of the spectrum, the many white chocolates offered too much sweetness or conflict in flavors. In our persistence we eventually settled on a particular product of Cacao Barry milk chocolate as our chocolate of choice. This particular chocolate has delicate balances of Cocoa, Milk, and Fat (a careful percentage between cocoa butter and milk fat) that gives us the exact result we most enjoy. The taste is a nice delicate one. Its balance with the other flavors such as vanilla and orange zest acts as a highlight, yet a complementary one. This chocolate also helps calibrate the delicate moisture balance inside the panettone in the absence of other ingredients in our other panettoni.
The chocolate chunks themselves are added at the end of production just prior to baking and make up about 1/5th of the final weight. This final step requires a gentle mixing technique that promotes even distribution yet doesn’t change the dough, causing it to lose strength or damaging its gluten network.
After baking, and when the panettone has fully cooled and cured, it is dipped into our liquefied chocolate coating. We carefully comb this into the bread to make it stick better, distribute it more uniformly, and give it a refined look.
Chef Emiddio strongly believes that every detail in every aspect of his panettone is extremely important. When striving for the perfect result there is much trial in achieving those final steps from good to great, and involves feedback from the community. We ask that you feel welcome to share with us your opinions so that we can continue to learn and incorporate new ideas into new products or product variations in the future.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]
We wish you a wonderful day 🙂
Antise Vancouver
