Panettone (Italian Easter cake)

The first thing to do is to prepare the leaven for the Italian Easter bread. Warm up some milk (it should be slightly warm, not hot). Dissolve the yeast in the milk, mix, add a teaspoon of sugar, and stir. Let the leaven rise a bit.

Mix the butter with 120 g of sugar (you can slightly melt the butter in a pot) and add the slightly cooled butter to the milk with yeast, mixing the mixture well.

We break two eggs into a bowl, adding three yolks. In a separate bowl, we mix lemon and orange zest with raisins, candied fruits, nuts, and add 1 tsp of flour to make the mixture crumbly.

Add eggs to the dough, mix. Then add half of the sifted flour and salt, mix. Pour in the mixture of dried fruits and nuts, mix.

The most critical moment in making panettone is to add flour in small portions and then start kneading the dough. This will take at least 10 minutes. The dough should not be liquid, but not too thick either; it may stick slightly to the hands, and the dough should 'breathe.' Grease a deep bowl with vegetable oil, place the dough in it, and cover it with a towel. Set it in a warm place for 3.5-4 hours until the dough rises 1.5-2 times.

After the dough has risen, place it in the molds, filling them not to the top. Grease the top of the Italian pasca with butter and let it rest for another 30 minutes (the dough will rise almost to the top of the mold).

Place the molds with the batter in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Check the readiness of the Italian cake with a toothpick.

While the Easter cakes are preparing, we make the 'icing'. For this, we beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, add powdered sugar, and beat again. Lemon juice can be added if desired. We coat the cakes with icing and decorate to our taste.