There’s an art to mixing up panettone. Ignio Massari, a master of this annual holiday bread, says he changes the structure of his panettone annually, using variations around salt, fruit and raisins. But for Ignio, the base egg quantity stays the same. 

In addition, a focus is refreshing the fermentation vehicle, namely the “lievito madre.” In my own effort this year, the lievito madre seemed very active. As panettone involves two doughs, I mixed the first with one method and formula, but then decided to make the final dough with a completely different style and method. Would it become Frankenttone? Nope, this year’s panettone bake rose magically and feels super light..