Fun Facts About Our Favorite Christmas Treat, Panettone (2024)

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Fun Facts About Our Favorite Christmas Treat, Panettone? ›

It has always been a popular gift at Christmas, with bakeries giving a loaf to their clients. Most bakeries don't make it during the year, because it's so labour intensive it isn't economical. A panettone takes up to 48 hours to make, on top of the starter yeast that needs to be nurtured in advance.

Panettone is Hung Upside Down After Baking

Once traditional panettone is finished baking, it is flipped upside down until it's completely cool. This eye-catching technique prevents the bread from falling in on itself and keeps the soft and fluffy texture.

It is made during a long process that involves curing the dough, which is acidic, similar to sourdough. The proofing process alone takes several days, giving the cake its distinctive fluffy characteristics.

It is said that a baker in Milan wanted to make something special while making his traditional break but given the vast poverty at the time had only a few simple ingredients and to his traditional recipe added some candied fruit and raisins and panettone was born.

When Toni's boss burned the cake intended for Il Duce's holiday feast, Toni took the sourdough starter he was saving for his own Christmas dinner, kneaded it into a rich confection, and saved the day. The Duke named the bread pan de Toni, which eventually became panettone.

Panettone is famous for its tangy flavor and yellow, soft and gooey dough that is unlike no other. The secret behind it is an Italian yeast called lievito madre, or mother yeast. But it's not an easy yeast to work with: you need time and patience to master it.

Panettone tends to be a little more expensive than most other baked goods, mainly due to the amount of time that goes into making each one. A traditional panettone is usually a lengthy procedure, however, a cheap mass-produced alternative will take shortcuts in the baking process which will be reflected in its taste.

The dimensions should be around 13,5 cm / 5.3 inch diameter and a height of 9.5 cm / 3.7 inch. Panetonne needs to cool upside down after baking, because the delicate and fluffy bread would collapse if you leave it standing up after baking.

pan·​et·​to·​ne ˌpä-nə-ˈtō-nē ˌpa- : a usually yeast-leavened bread containing raisins and candied fruit.

While panettone is technically a type of sweet bread due to its yeast-based dough, it is commonly considered a festive dessert or cake-like treat.

Why doesn't panettone get moldy? ›

Fat also keeps bread from staling too quickly—the fattier the bread, the slower its decay. Breads like focaccia, brioche, or panettone, made with large amounts of oil and butter, tend to have a longer shelf life.

Choosing a high-quality panettone

If it has an aroma of butter, vanilla, and candied orange you are off to a good start. If the bread has an intense golden yellow colour this means that the best balance between egg yolks and butter has been achieved.

After slicing, store the remaining inside of the cellophane bag that it was originally wrapped in. This bag is specific for keeping the shelf-life of the panettone long, even after it is cut. If left whole and stored properly, the panettone will stay fresh and moist for about 4 weeks.

Panettone is a traditional Italian sweet bread, commonly enjoyed during the Christmas season. This festive treat is characterized by its tall cylindrical shape, airy texture, and a distinctive flavour. Typically made with flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and candied fruits like orange peel and raisins.

During the luxurious Christmas banquet given by the Duke of Milan, the desert got burnt. A young cook, called Toni, came up with a rich brioche bread, filled with raisins and candied fruit. The Duke loved it, and so the tradition of 'Pane di Toni' was born. Later, in 1821, Panettone became a symbol of liberty in Italy.

Actually, panettone has a very important rival, which is pandoro. Pandoro comes from Verona and is a sweet yeast bread without candied fruits and raisins. It is taller than panettone and has a 8-pointed star section.

It's been called the Mount Everest of holiday baking, considered by bakers to be the most difficult baked good to perfect. Most bakers don't even try, unless they're driven by personal obsession or family destiny. Panettone, that iconic bread-slash-cake of the Italian holiday season, is no mere fruitcake.

And panettone is already posh). Like standard versions, it's just a sweetish bread, along sourdough lines, proved for an unusual length of time, which is why it's so light.

For more than five consecutive years, Peru is the country that consumes the most panettone in the world and is iconic in the celebration of Christmas and even New Year's.

It cools upside down

Since the dough is very rich, but also very airy, it tends to collapse and deflate as soon as it cools. For this reason, traditional panettone is skewered with a special rack right when it comes out of the oven, and immediately hung upside down for 8 hours to cool and rest.