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Pan Dulce – Argentine Christmas Fruit Bread

⏱ 5 h in total🔪 50 min prep🍳 50 min cooking🧊 3 h 20 min resting🍽 12 portiesHardRío de la Plata
Pan Dulce – Argentine Christmas Fruit Bread

Pan dulce is the Argentine Christmas bread — a close relative of panettone, brought over by Italian immigration and given its own profile here: candied fruit, raisins, nuts and orange blossom water, which gives it its unmistakable aroma. That is what sets it apart from a panettone.

It takes time, not skill: a sponge, two rises and patience while kneading. The dough is sticky at the start, and that is right — more flour makes it dry and heavy. After ten minutes of kneading it comes away on its own.

The result beats any shop-bought pan dulce. Its little brother on the same table is the English fruitcake.

You will also need: a 1 kg paper panettone mould.

Ingredients

Measurements
🍽 12 servings
  • Sponge: 100 ml warm milk, 20 g fresh yeast and 1 tbsp flour
  • 500 g all-purpose flour (plain flour)
  • 120 g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 100 g soft butter
  • Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp orange blossom water (the classic aroma)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 150 g candied fruit
  • 100 g raisins (soaked for 15 minutes and drained)
  • 100 g walnuts and almonds, roughly chopped

Method

  1. 1

    Make the sponge: mix the warm milk with the yeast and the tablespoon of flour, and let it foam for 15 minutes.

  2. 2

    In a large bowl, combine the flour with the sugar and the salt. Make a well and add the sponge, the eggs, the zests and the orange blossom water.

  3. 3

    Knead for 10 minutes to a smooth dough, then work in the soft butter a little at a time, kneading until it is completely absorbed. It is sticky at first: do not add extra flour.

  4. 4

    First rise: shape into a ball, cover and let it double somewhere warm, 1 hour and a half to 2 hours.

  5. 5

    Knock it back lightly and work in the fruit, raisins and nuts, floured (so they do not sink to the bottom), distributing them evenly.

  6. 6

    Shape into a ball and place it in the paper mould: it should fill it two thirds of the way. Second rise, covered, until it peeks over the rim, about 1 hour.

  7. 7

    Cut a cross in the surface, brush with beaten egg and bake at 170 °C for 45-50 minutes. If it browns too fast, cover with foil.

  8. 8

    Test with a skewer in the centre: it should come out dry. Cool completely on a rack before cutting — cut warm, the crumb goes dense.