Major appearance fail … next round a smaller snip in my zip bag to get a “fine” line vs my heavy duty paint stroke. The paste did stay white, though!
Live and learn 
Liz, Well, they look delicious, but I am glad you started with a test batch for the “Authentic” crosses. I take it you used the plastic bag method of piping. I did that too, but I used a very flimsy ziplock bag and it exploded in the midst of one of my crosses. I guess I squeezed too hard. What a mess! Anyhow, my orange glaze crosses may not have been authentic, and some of them not very pretty (you can see why I didn’t get around to photographing them), but they tasted great.
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Yes, used a zip log bag and made too large of a snip in the corner. And you know that paste is … paste! In the recipe I used there is a photo of the author using a condiment style squeeze bottle which might work. I also accidentally found, later, in an old box of decorating tips … a very fine tube end. Anyway, I know for next time.
BUT, yes, they were delicious! I actually did not separate the rolls in my 8x8 block (except for that first) … sliced like a loaf of bread and used like toast. This morning, the last 2 slices got the French toast treatment. I love somewhat dried brioche made into French toast and this worked very well.
On to Panettone experimenting … only 8 months until Christmas and I think we need to start prepping 6-8 weeks before
My plan for the panettone prep come September is to try Pandoro. It’s very similar to Panettone but doesn’t have the dried fruit. My victims will be the eaters at my church’s coffee hour.
I’m a total cheapskate and I find myself trying to figure out how to do this without buying special panettone paper baking pans. They seem expensive, unless you buy them by the gross. But maybe I need to look farther than the King Arthur store!
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I bought the molds, never did the panettone last year. I’m committed for 2019 so as to not have wasted the $$ 
Here’s what i bought, 12 for $12.55
Novacart Panettone Mold - P155, 12 Pieces https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KX8YMGQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4kjWCbEHTTEFM
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I just tried another treat very similar to Panettone and Pandoro: a “Colomba Pasquale” (Easter Dove). The recipe is almost identical to the Panettone without the raisins, but it is baked in a dove shaped paper mold. It was a great use of your candied orange peel too! I decided upon a recipe from the Italian Master Piergiorgio Giorilli. Here are links to the same recipe and method on two different Italian websites.
http://www.lievitonaturale.org/dolci_colomba_Giorilli.php
Here is a third Giorilli Colomba link that uses the same method but using slightly different recipe:
http://www.lievitonaturale.org/dolci_colomba_Giorilli_lievitazione_lenta.php#start
I used the recipe from the first link above. The translations for the method were not very clear in that version, so I referred to the method in the other two web pages to help clarify the instructions.
I made two 1kg loaves, the first was a trial run and I used the quick glaze recipe they recommended and then made the second loaf using the Giorilli glaze. Since I did not have any “armelline” (bitter almonds) I just used regular almonds for that ingredient. I really liked the Giorilli glaze so I will be using that for any future bakes. I tried using Belgian pearl sugar to help differentiate it from the Panettone I make, but next time I will probably just use Swedish pearl sugar. The Swedish “pearls” are smaller than the Belgian ones and the Giorilli glaze is already sweet enough and does not need such large chunks of sugar. Here are the photos from my trial run loaf:
I don’t have any photos of my second loaf because my 11.75 inch wooden skewers were not quite long enough and barely strong enough for a 1 kg loaf and I ended up dropping that one on its head while trying to get it inverted between two boxes. It ended up looking pretty wonky! 
Fortunately it did not harm the flavor (only my pride). I have since purchased some 15" long metal skewers to resolve that issue for the future.
Here is a link to where I got my Colomba molds:
I bought 3 molds for about $17. Sadly, they were pretty spendy, but since I only made a couple for a fun Easter treat, I guess it was still worth it.
I forgot to mention a couple things in my last post.
First, I wanted to use high-gluten flour for my Colomba, like I use on my Panettone. I have have had good luck with General Mills All Trumps High Gluten Flour (14.2% protein), but I didn’t have any handy, so I enriched my bread flour (Dakota Mills Bread Flour, 12.6% protein) with some Hodgson Mills Vital Wheat Gluten (66.7% protein). I used the Gluten Enrichment Calculator that I shared in an earlier post to calculate how much gluten to use. For example, for the first dough I needed 230 g of high gluten flour, so I used 223 g bread flour and 7 g of gluten powder. For the second dough I needed 60 g of high gluten flour, so I used 58 g bread flour and 2 g gluten powder.
Second point, I wanted to mention that the www.lievitonaturale.org website has a nice tutorial on making natural leavened sweet breads such as Panettone, Pandoro and Colomba. Here is a link:
http://www.lievitonaturale.org/consigli_grandi_lievitati.php
Happy Baking!
Wow, Dan, you inspire me!
I am still working up to this kind of baking. As I have mentioned, doughnuts are my next project (and I am planning to make them a lot), I got a doughnut cookbook out of the library yesterday, Doughnuts: 90 Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home by Lara Ferroni. There are a lot of really good ideas there, but the sourdough recipe was a bit disappointing. It only uses the starter as a flavoring agent, still relying on commercial yeast for the “real” fermentation. But then I searched on-line and came up with this one: http://www.mydailysourdoughbread.com/three-reasons-try-making-fluffy-sourdough-doughnuts/, by a woman in Slovenia named Natasa. Not only does she rely on sourdough completely, but she includes real techniques for getting what looks like a very airy, light crumb.
Here is a picture from the sourdough doughnut blog post:
I particularly like the video she links to that shows how to do the “slap and fold” kneading technique. This is something that I have heard about, but I had never really understood before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZtlmH2PZn8
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MyDailySourdough is such a great blog and that is a great recipe! I used it once and then at the advice of @anon66425146 I tried the donut recipe from the cookbook Baking School: The Bread Ahead but I kept the rum and the sourdough starter approach of MyDailySourdough.
I wrote it up on my blog last year, mostly to keep track of the hybridization of the recipes. Basically, there is 1 more egg and a little more water than MyDailySourdough.
@anon66425146 has continued to make donuts since then, though, and may have more tweaks to the recipe and insight gathered through experience.
What @Fermentada said … my hybridization is the Bread Ahead recipe (extra egg) with MyDailySourdough’s sweet stiff starter and half milk-half water. I don’t use the rum only because I typically don’t keep it around and don’t think to buy it!
From my first batch:
Even though I(we) adjusted, I’ve made several of MyDailySourdough recipes and they have all worked wonderfully! Just last week, I made her Hot Cross Buns …. photos in my post above. I had a piping disaster but that was my error not recipe!
At any rate, I don’t think you can go wrong with her exact doughnut recipe. I also have made several things from The Bread Ahead Cookbook adjusted for natural leavening and I find it a great source for “around the world” baked goods.
One thing about the enriched doughs that I have done differently than @Fermentada and other commenters. I pretty much stick to recipe times. Most say that the enriched doughs take much longer to proof and I just don’t do that. It is the one time (genre, I guess) that I go with time vs appearance … in the proof. And I normally do some room temp time and then overnight in the refrigerator, then warm, shape, final rise. That final rise has not been slow/long for me and I get a lot of spring in the oven and fluffy interiors.
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Wow, beautiful crumb!
Hi Melissa, with the holidays rapidly approaching, I transcribed my version of the Iginio Massari panettone recipe and procedure, along with some photos and my tweaks, to help those who might want to make some panettone this year but are challenged by the Italian websites. The recipe is lengthy and fairly detailed, but hopefully it will help folks avoid some of the issues I had in the first few years I tried the recipe. I would be happy to post it, but I am not sure if I should post it as part of this thread, or post it in the recipes section. I could also send it directly to you if you would like to take a look before I post it. Let me know what you think.
Wow, that is amazing and generous of you to share your panettone recipe. Thank you so much.
I think it makes sense to make a new post in the Reader Recipes section. You can then add a link to that new post in this thread here, so anyone who ventures through these conversations knows how to get to the final recipe.
I’m sure your write-up is great. If you have any specific questions or concerns, I’m also happy to look it over.
I have used the panettone recipe from “The Bread Bible” for two years now and my Italian friend tells me it is excellent. I follow the recipe very precisely.
Here I started this panettone challenge and I didn’t make any! I had some heart trouble and had to have a stent put in. Long and short, I am supposed to be avoiding butter and extra carbohydrates. It’s put quite a crimp in my baking. Anyhow, I’ve really enjoyed all the feedback over the year and I learned a lot about wild yeast in fatty doughs. Maybe I’ll get to do an off-season panettone. Happy Honnukka, Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, etc. to all!
So sorry to hear about your heart troubles. I hope the New Year brings you good health (and a little butter and carbs here and there).
I’m guessing you’ve seen this recipe post and thread, but just in case you haven’t or for anyone who’s reading here and maybe hasn’t seen it.