out and briefly rested. This makes the dough
easier to handle and form before its final rise.
Italian panettone and pandoro are remarkable
holiday breads that are enriched with large
quantities of sugar, egg yolks, and butter, but
that keep well because they are built from a
sourdough that starts with a naturally
leavened sponge.
Gluten-Free Breads People whose immune
systems are intolerant of gluten must avoid
wheat and its close relatives, and therefore
can’t eat ordinary bread, where gluten plays a
major role in texture. A reasonable facsimile
of raised bread can be made with gluten-free
flours or starches — rice flour, for example
— that are supplemented with xanthan gum
and emulsifiers. The gum, which is secreted
by a bacterium and purified from industrial-
scale fermenters, provides a modest gluten-
like elasticity, while the emulsifiers stabilize
the gas bubbles and slow the diffusion of