Pan Co’ Santi

I’m a sucker for unusual celebratory breads. Being perverse, I run a mile from what everyone else is baking – pannetone, bara brith, stollen, cinnamon rolls, Autumn pumpkin bread all strung up with cinnamon stick stalks.

Everyone bakes Pan de Muerto for Halloween but what about Pan co’ Santi for All Saints Day? Never heard of it? Me neither before the recipe popped up on Facebook courtesy of De Gustibus Itinera – https://degustibusitinera.it/

Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time simplifying bread formulas and methods because my experience tells me one method suits most breads and, why complicate things for the sake of it?

This recipe calls for:

a Preferment, which actually is just a starter at 100% hydration (plus a bit of yeast, but we won’t talk about that).

An Emulsion, which is equal weights of olive oil and water whisked with salt until it emulsifies. This interests me because years ago my chum Big G baked a Cherry Tomato Focaccia over which a similar emulsion was spooned before it went in the oven – the idea being (he said) that the water would stop the surface burning in the high temperature and the oil would produce a golden crust once the water had evaporated. So, my question would be, is the use of emulsions common in Italian baking, and what difference does it make as opposed to simply adding unemulsified oil, water and salt to the other dough ingredients?

The Dough called for a number of complicated steps and different mixer speeds – wine added to the flour alternating with the sugar and then the emulsion. Finally, the raisins, lemon zest and pepper before adding the walnuts manually.

My addapted formula:

Plus lemon zest.

What I did: well, first off, my partner Sue is not allergic to nuts but her digestive system can’t handle them – the small hard particles can cause her agony. So, I thought it was time for an experiment. The walnuts went in the blender and were pulverised with the sugar, the wine followed (should have been “chianti type” but it was Bordeaux) and the lot pureed before being sieved.

Whisked the olive oil, water and salt into a emulsion. Soaked the raisins in hot water, drained, dried and given a healthy splash of sherry (should have been Vin Santo but …)

Then I proceeded as I would with any other bread – hand mixed, all the liquids in the bowl followed by the flour, black pepper and lemon zest. Usual three short kneads, folding in the raisins with the last knead.

Four hours bulk fermentation, shaped, proved another four hours. Decorated with (detachable) walnuts. Egg washed.

Baked in the Pico 250C top 220C bottom. 10 minutes steam. 2nd egg wash after 20 minutes. Reduced temperature. About 40 minutes total bake.

Have to say this is one of the best flavoured breads of its kind and it’s destined to appear in a number of guises in the future – too good to be restricted to 01 November.

Very impressive.

Thanks to De Gustibus Itinera.