Libby Klein I just adore Panettone. It's not just me, Figaro goes nuts for the stuff. He'll come running when he smells it and demands a few bites. I suppose this is meant to be a dessert, <insert eyeroll here> but I eat it for breakfast throughout the holiday season. And then sometimes for dessert. Don't judge me. This recipe takes two days and ideally requires the use of a panettone mold. Although you can just use a small cake pan if that is what you have. Because this makes two panettones, you can either use 2 molds, or leave a ball of dough in the refrigerator until after the first cooled panettone is unmolded, or bake one in a small cake pan. If you do that, the flatter, wider, cake pan panettone may be fully baked before the one in the tall mold, so be sure to check the temperature before the time is up. If you have a probe thermometer that goes in the oven, I'd bake the panettones with the thermometer inserted to ensure your panettones are fully baked before removing them from the oven to cool. My recipe has been adapted from Kim, the queen of gluten-free baking. See the original here.

Gluten Free Panettone

Makes 2 small or 1 large Panettones

Ingredients:

DOUGH

3½ cups 1 to 1 gluten-free flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1¾ teaspoon baking powder
2 tbsp plus 1½ teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoon whole psyllium husks (or 1½ tablespoon psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp salt
1½ cups slightly warm milk
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, very soft
2 large eggs, room temperature

FRUITS

½ cup mixed raisins
½ cup candied orange peel
½ cup candied lemon peel
¼ cup dark rum
zest of one orange
juice of ½ orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Day 1

The Dough

Blend the flour, sugar, baking powder, yeast, psyllium husk, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle or dough hook attachment, slowly add the warm milk, soft butter, and eggs into the dry ingredients.

Once completely combined, turn the mixer up to about medium or medium high and beat for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and somewhat stretchy, more like a thick batter.
Remove the dough hook or paddle attachment. Scrape the dough together into a rough ball or mound using a bowl scraper or spatula. It should be fluffy looking and almost look like buttercream frosting. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator overnight

The Fruits

Put dried fruit and mixed candied peel in a medium bowl and pour vanilla extract, orange juice and rum over the fruit. Mix well, cover, and soak overnight on the counter.

Day 2

Prepare your panettone molds with a nonstick spray and some parchment paper. The parchment paper will be very useful if you only have one mold and need to use it again to bake the 2nd panettone.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and attach directly to your stand mixer. Add soaked fruits. Using the dough hook, knead briefly just to distribute. Dump the dough from the bowl to a well-floured surface and smooth into a round ball. Carefully place half the dough in each of two panettone molds.

Place mold or cake pan on two baking sheets and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free area until the dough has reached the top of the panettone mold or cake pan, about 2-3 hours. I like to put them in a cold oven with a 9x13 pan of just boiled water underneath.

When they have risen and are puffy, take them out of the oven so you can preheat to 400° F. I leave the pan of water in the oven. Brush the panettones with an egg wash. Bake on baking sheet for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350° F and continue to bake for about 55-60 minutes more, tenting with foil halfway through if getting too dark. A skewer inserted into the center of the bread should come out clean. The temperature should read between 170-175° F in the center. Remove the panettones from the oven and allow them to cool completely before slicing.

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all.

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her
classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Next year, Marc and I will be celebrating the publication of the 19th entry in our Coffeehouse Mystery series ☕, but readers of our 12th Coffeehouse Mystery Holiday Buzz might recognize today's recipe.

If you've never read Holiday Buzz, this is the perfect time to dive in. The "Christmas in New York" theme of the book was great fun for Marc and I to write, and we've heard from many readers who've enjoyed joining our amateur sleuth (coffeehouse manager Clare) as she strives to help solve the murder of an innocent young baker's assistant, found dead after helping Clare cater a glittering holiday party beside the famous ice skating rink of New York's Bryant Park, one of the Big Apple's most festive places to visit during the holidays. Okay, maybe not this year, given the city's struggles with Covid, but next year, for sure, and (we hope and pray because we love New York!) forevermore.

Click here to learn more
about Cleo Coyle's
Holiday Buzz.

In the course of Holiday Buzz, tasty holiday recipes are cooked up, including this special Christmas treat, and we're happy to share it with you today. Not only does it make a beautiful breakfast or brunch during the Christmas season, but it can double as a dessert, too (more on that below). In the meantime...

🎄 To see more of the recipes that we included in our holiday-themed Coffeehouse Mystery, Holiday Buzz,

click here or on the image below...

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Illustrated Recipe Guide to

Cleo Coyle's Holiday Buzz

Click for Cleo's

Holiday Buzz Recipe Guide

Now on to today's recipe...

🎄 A Note from Cleo

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

"Panettone" is a delicious Italian Christmas tradition. This slightly sweet, domed-shaped bread is amazingly fluffy and laced with candied fruit. Italians have made a tradition of giving the festively wrapped cakes as gifts. The symbolize luck and prosperity through the New Year.

If you've never had panettone, look for it in boxes like the one in my photo above. Many American supermarkets, big box stores, and even drug stores now sell boxes of panettone around the holidays. You can also buy it online (try Amazon or Eataly).

Boxed panettone can keep for months but once it's out of its wrappings, this delicious bread goes stale fairly quickly. When that happens, simply follow our directions below for a festive French toast. May you...

🎄 Eat with comfort and joy!

~ Cleo

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in a free PDF document that you
can print, save, or share.

Click for the Free Recipe PDF.

☕ Cleo Coyle's
Panettone French Toast

This recipe is a versatile one. You can use our suggested combo of vanilla and amaretto or simply go with straight vanilla. By all means, feel free to change things up. Instead of the amaretto (for example) an orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier would be outstanding. A bit of nutmeg and cinnamon are also lovely optional additions, along with some orange zest.

Finally, you don't have to limit our recipe to breakfast or brunch. Panettone French Toast also makes a fabulous dessert. Just scoop a bit of gelato or ice cream over a warm piece, toss on some berries and splash of amaretto or try toasted almonds, chocolate sauce, and a puff of whipped cream.

Makes 2 Servings for breakfast -- 4 servings for dessert

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
1/4 cup whole milk, light cream, or half-and-half

(optional) 1-2 tablespoons Amaretto

1/2 teaspoon vanilla (if not using any liqueur flavoring, double this amount)

1 Tablespoon sugar

Pinch of salt

1 one-inch thick round of panettone, quartered

For frying: 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil + 1 tablespoon butter

To finish: confectioners' sugar

Note: Like any soft bread, panettone will tear if you're not careful. To avoid that, take note of my underlined comments in the recipe.

Directions:

Step 1—Prep bread: Slice a 1-inch thick round layer from your loaf of panettone (see my photo below). The thickness is important to avoid tearing.

Allow the bread to sit out and become dry for a few hours or overnight. When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 250 degrees F. Slice the thick round into 4 quarters and set aside.

Step 2—Mix egg custard: In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, liqueur and/or vanilla, sugar, and salt. Place the egg mixture into a pie or cake pan and soak the slices of bread for about 3 minutes on one side, then avoid tearing by using two forks to carefully turn the fragile pieces and soak them for another 3 on the other. At this point most of the liquid should be absorbed.

Step 3—Fry and bake: Into a skillet or sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 of butter. When the butter is melted and butter/oil mixture is hot, use a clean hand to carefully transfer the fragile slices of panettone quarters into the pan. Pour any remaining custard over the top of the slices in the hot pan.

Turn the heat down to medium and begin to time the cooking. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown (do not overcook). If cooking more batches, be sure to wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and add fresh oil and butter for each new batch.

Use a spatula to carefully transfer the fried quarters to a parchment lined baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. After that time, either serve at once or turn off the oven to "hold" the pieces for 20 to 30 minutes.

Step 4—Serve : Eat the panettone French toast warm with a dusting of powdered sugar and/or serve with butter and pure maple or cane syrup and/or fruit toppings (strawberries, blueberries, etc). For an incredible dessert, add a scoop of ice cream and/or whipped cream, maybe some chopped nuts, and a drizzle of amaretto or chocolate sauce. As for me and my husband, Marc, this is what we'll be eating Christmas morning...