Great article! Reminded me of my focaccia phase (obviously no where near as technically difficult as a panettone) but I made a couple every week and became super obsessed with the hydration levels, proving times etc. and also had that feeling of failure when it didn’t go right.
Thank you so much for reading, Laura! I personally think Instagram or TikTok has turned focaccia into a symbol of a super easy nontechnical baked good but it can’t be further from the truth. Great focaccia is very hard to make. The fermentation time is tricky to nail and getting the right combination of textures, etc. I am happy more people are baking and if focaccia being easy is what gets them to bake their first bread that’s pretty incredible. I think baking just really made me aware of how much I was relying on external things to bring me a sense of self-worth and validation. That’s why everything I baked had to be perfect, as it was my main source of external validation. I would love to see some of your beautiful and most importantly delicious focaccias.
Wow, this couldn't have resonated more with me. You should read "How to be an imperfectionist" by Stephen Guise. It's a very practical book that has a lot of proactive exercises to get out of the cycle of perfectionism. It's helped me a lot.
This resonated so much with me! I am in constant need of reminding myself that the baking projects I embark myself on should be fun! Thank you for this 💕 (I started my panettone journey during lockdown and almost felt the sourdough was my baby, feeding it at the middle of the night, thats when I realised I was going a bit mad 😬).
Hi Camila, thank you so much for reading and I am so glad this resonated with you. I am the absolute same, I have to constantly remind myself that I am doing things not only baking for fun. I think in some strange way it is also related to something else I have struggled with my entire life and that is letting myself enjoy things. It's like I latch on to all of these expectations that ultimately make it impossible for me to enjoy what I am doing. I have gotten a lot better in this department but it's a work in progress for sure. I would love to see some of your panettone bakes :)
I understand you so much more than you think! I stopped baking panettone as well. A few years ago I did a workshop in Barcelona with José Romero at EPGB. He has a brilliant book called Remember 28, and I sort of want to start making them again now.. but I will restrain myself for a bit.
Small world! My friend, who runs a pastry shop in Ecuador now, did the EPGB program and learned how to bake panettone from José. She gave me a lot of tips when I was first learning about 4 years ago. I know José through Instagram, I was hoping to get to meet him but when I was just in Barcelona visiting my parents he was at the Panettone world tournament or whatever it is called. I also tried helping to promote his book when it first launched. So few English books on the topic. Exactly, listen to yourself, you will know when you are ready. I will be baking panettone soon as I am working on a commissioned piece about it, but feeling super nervous cause it's been a few month. Maybe it's excitement, I am feeling lol.
I so agree with you. I spent money and months just feeding the PM. I called myself professional PM builder, not even a good one. 😂 I think panettone requires a higher taste bud to appreciate it. Sometimes when I want to have a respite, I will look for a yeast recipe and just practice mxing dough. Thank you for sharing your journey, it is not just me. 😝😂
Thank you, Selena! I’m so happy to hear this resonated with you. We need to remind ourselves to do more things for fun and enjoyment. Also I love your title 😊 Professional PM Builder to the rescue 🦸🏻♀️
Great article! Reminded me of my focaccia phase (obviously no where near as technically difficult as a panettone) but I made a couple every week and became super obsessed with the hydration levels, proving times etc. and also had that feeling of failure when it didn’t go right.
Thank you so much for reading, Laura! I personally think Instagram or TikTok has turned focaccia into a symbol of a super easy nontechnical baked good but it can’t be further from the truth. Great focaccia is very hard to make. The fermentation time is tricky to nail and getting the right combination of textures, etc. I am happy more people are baking and if focaccia being easy is what gets them to bake their first bread that’s pretty incredible. I think baking just really made me aware of how much I was relying on external things to bring me a sense of self-worth and validation. That’s why everything I baked had to be perfect, as it was my main source of external validation. I would love to see some of your beautiful and most importantly delicious focaccias.
I'll be sure to bake one soon and write about it on my feed! Feel free to subscribe if my writing is your kind of thing :-)
Done! I love fermentation so much! I have 4 recipes so far on some Ukrainian ferments.
Wow, this couldn't have resonated more with me. You should read "How to be an imperfectionist" by Stephen Guise. It's a very practical book that has a lot of proactive exercises to get out of the cycle of perfectionism. It's helped me a lot.
Thank you, Hope! So glad to hear that it resonated. I always appreciate book recommendations. I will add it to my must read list.
This resonated so much with me! I am in constant need of reminding myself that the baking projects I embark myself on should be fun! Thank you for this 💕 (I started my panettone journey during lockdown and almost felt the sourdough was my baby, feeding it at the middle of the night, thats when I realised I was going a bit mad 😬).
Hi Camila, thank you so much for reading and I am so glad this resonated with you. I am the absolute same, I have to constantly remind myself that I am doing things not only baking for fun. I think in some strange way it is also related to something else I have struggled with my entire life and that is letting myself enjoy things. It's like I latch on to all of these expectations that ultimately make it impossible for me to enjoy what I am doing. I have gotten a lot better in this department but it's a work in progress for sure. I would love to see some of your panettone bakes :)
I understand you so much more than you think! I stopped baking panettone as well. A few years ago I did a workshop in Barcelona with José Romero at EPGB. He has a brilliant book called Remember 28, and I sort of want to start making them again now.. but I will restrain myself for a bit.
Small world! My friend, who runs a pastry shop in Ecuador now, did the EPGB program and learned how to bake panettone from José. She gave me a lot of tips when I was first learning about 4 years ago. I know José through Instagram, I was hoping to get to meet him but when I was just in Barcelona visiting my parents he was at the Panettone world tournament or whatever it is called. I also tried helping to promote his book when it first launched. So few English books on the topic. Exactly, listen to yourself, you will know when you are ready. I will be baking panettone soon as I am working on a commissioned piece about it, but feeling super nervous cause it's been a few month. Maybe it's excitement, I am feeling lol.
Reflective and provocative. This is your process.
Thank you! ❤️☺️
I so agree with you. I spent money and months just feeding the PM. I called myself professional PM builder, not even a good one. 😂 I think panettone requires a higher taste bud to appreciate it. Sometimes when I want to have a respite, I will look for a yeast recipe and just practice mxing dough. Thank you for sharing your journey, it is not just me. 😝😂
Thank you, Selena! I’m so happy to hear this resonated with you. We need to remind ourselves to do more things for fun and enjoyment. Also I love your title 😊 Professional PM Builder to the rescue 🦸🏻♀️
These look amazing. I am absolutely going to try them!
So glad! Can’t wait for you to try them. Let me know if you have any questions. 🙌