ruthie, you're probably back by now, I hope you had a great trip. I've been doing "international" cookies too, LOL, but not because I decided to, just because that's what struck me. I just made cuccidati, a fig filled cookie that a friend sent me and I loved them. I've made Venetian rainbow cookies with almond paste, and I've made good old American toll house cookies and grandma's molasses cookies and peanut butter cookies. Elery and I are making cannoli tomorrow, and I've done the Scottish shortbread and the spritz and the pfefferneuse. I think I'm not going to do any more baking except cut out and frosted sugar cookies with the grandkids! Now, that pannetone. Here is a recipe from King Arthur Flour for a traditional pannetone, it requires an overnight resting of the "biga", which is just the yeast with a bit of water and some of the flour, kind of like a sourdough "starter". The bread is made using the biga the next day. I didn't have orange oil or the special seasoning thing you can only get from King Arthur Flour, LOL, so I used the vanilla and some orange extract. My family loves this recipe and since it uses dried fruit instead of the candied stuff, I like it too. I do not like candied fruit at all. Anyway, it's easier than it looks and the recipe came from King Arthur Flour: Overnight Panettone This traditional Italian holiday bread will stay fresh longer when it's made with an overnight starter. Biga (Overnight Starter) 3/4 cup (3 1/8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/16 teaspoon yeast (just a pinch) 1/3 cup (2 5/8 ounces) water Dough all of the biga (above) 2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/4 cup (2 ounces) water 2 large eggs 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia flavoring OR 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1/8 teaspoon orange oil 2 1/4 teaspoons SAF Gold instant yeast OR 1 tablespoon instant yeast 1/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) sugar 1/2 cup (3 ounces) golden raisins 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) slivered dried apricots 1/2 cup (2 ounces) dried cranberries or flavored fruit bits 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) dried pineapple, chopped 2 tablespoons orange or lemon zest The Biga: Combine the biga ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl, cover, and allow them to rest overnight (8 to 12 hours). Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and mix and knead them togetherby hand, mixer or bread machinetill you've made a soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until it's puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk). Gently deflate the dough, and knead in the fruits and zest. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a panettone pan or other straight-sided, tall 1 1/2- to 2-quart pan. Cover the pan and let the dough rise till it's just crested over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour. Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes; reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake an additional 10 minutes; then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 25 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil if the crust appears to be browning too quickly. Remove the panettone from the oven and cool completely. This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. III, No. 2, December 1991 issue. Annie

I made my first loaf last night, and I really like the way it came out. I agree with Cheryl that the menu is a bit confusing, and I think I made the bread on the wrong setting, for size, at least. I forgot about the size setting when I was starting the machine, and I was making a medium (the smallest) loaf, which used a total of 3 cups of flour. I used the plain white bread recipe, substituted one cup of whole wheat flour plus two tablespoons of Vital Wheat Gluten, since I was using all purpose instead of bread flour, and so because of the whole wheat. The water was supposed to be 1-1/4 cups, but I used 1-1/3 cups because I thought the WW might need extra water, but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. Well, I'm not sure I used the correct yeast - I have SAF yeast in the freezer, and so I just used that. It did not have a yeast flavor when it came out. It only slightly stuck, and so I used a plastic spatula to get it loose. I let it sit in the machine for about 10-12 minutes after the timer went off - not sure if I was supposed to do that, but the bread had a thick, somehwat hard, crust, which I like and prefer. I'm very happy with the loaf I made, although it does taste rather generic, but still much better than most WW bread I can buy. It's not as good as La Brea Bakery bread, but that is rather expensive, and this bread is an adequate substitute (except for the sourdough). The loaf came out lopsided, and so I will be making lopsided sandwiches, but I'm okay with that. I think it will also make good toast and French toast. Lars

Happyday, I agree that you are overproofing your bread, probably. If you let it rise too high it will collapse on itself and you'll get that sunken lump. Ask me how I know. (grin) Ann T, I do bread dough overnight and it's good, I've done it up to two days in the fridge and it's good, but I keep it more than that I it seems to develop a flavor that I find similar to mild sourdough. Elery loves it, so he's always hoping that I don't have time to bake that dough, LOL. jasdip, you won't find a consistent yeast amount in bread recipes. Some have more and some have less, depending on the flavor the originator of the recipe was shooting for and liked. As has been mentioned, bread is simple and forgiving, you can use more yeast or less, you can use whole wheat or white or off brand flour, oil or butter or none, milk, water, coffee, whatever and it will usually come out just fine. I just made a loaf for Elery that took a cup of liquid, I used 3/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of Sriracha sauce, along with a bit of dry mustard and some black pepper. White whole wheat in place of all purpose. He loved it, I'm not even tempted to try it! I had seen a similar recipe on the internet, but I didn't feel like looking it up, so I made it from what passes for my memory and it was still just fine and an absolutely beautiful color. Annie

Going to the school might be a fun vacation, but I would suggest already having some breads under your hands before you do it. From what I'm reading in between the lines, other than a fun vacation project, which the KA school would be, and I'm sure you'd learn stuff, you might be happier with a proper culinary school. There are culinary programs in your state (though perhaps not close to where you live). I don't know if they have pastry specialties, but they might have baking as part of the general program. Have you checked if they have bread baking as a specialty? Or if you can take bread courses without enrolling in the whole program? Rather than starting with coursework, however, I really suggest asking around and finding out if there's someone who bakes bread who lives near you who'd be willing to bake with you. Baking bread is really a lot easier than most people believe. A lot of it is experience. Really, go to a food service supply store and buy a fifty pound bag of bread flour and bake your way through it. Be willing to fail. The best bakers have had a "brick" or two show up while they were learning, Use a scale for your ingredients. It's far more accurate than volume. Go through your books and watch some videos. Find recipes by weight with a lot of directions and tips and follow them precisely. Learn how to feel whether a loaf is fully baked by touch and check yourself with a probe thermometer (looking for 195-205°F in general). By the time you've baked your way through the big bag of flour, you might not need any more help. Or you might decide you need to find a great bread bakery that will let you intern more than a school. Or you'll at least feel confident in your abilities to turn out a decent loaf of bread, and have the attention to pay to nuances and tips while you're taking your course to improve on what you know. Whatever you decide on, have fun! I learned from my mother. I'm not an expert, but I love baking bread. :)