The panettone: a legendary recipe

Only a month left before Christmas! To celebrate, GV invites you to discover recipes from all over the world, anchored in the Christmas tradition. On the program of the first part: the panettone.

Christmas is a magical time that makes you dream young and old. Christmas magic has no equivalent, so much that the end of the year is always expected with impatience, all over the world. For the occasion, we decorate our houses, meet with family, we treat ourselves with gifts... And we eat!

Some traditions are international, such as the famous chapon (or Christmas turkey). But there are also customs specific to a country or region. In France, for example, foie gras, salmon and logs are a must. But today we leave ours aside to discover a tradition of our Italian neighbours: the panettone.

Pronti? Andiamo!

A great tradition of Italian Christmas

The panettone is an ancestral dessert, very popular in Italy. It is an imposing brioche of cylindrical form (which the Italians rather call a bread) traditionally kilted with raisins, confit fruit and zests of citrus fruit. If, originally, dessert is a tradition of Lombardy , Piedmont and even Tessin (Switzerland), it now exceeds these three regions. Thus, when winter arrives, the panettoes invade the frontiers of shops and the Italians walk on the precious dessert.

It is impossible, therefore, to imagine the family meal without it. And that, the agri-food industry understood it well. Since the beginning of the century, the number of panettone manufacturers has exploded. Revisited recipes (to chocolate chips, for example), luxury or cheap panettone, a very attractive business has been put in place. For proof, Dolce & Gabbana, the famous high-coating brand, also makes (in collaboration with Fiasconaro) its own dessert! An unusual first step, but which turns out to be a real success.

However, the commercial success of the panettone does not stop there. Indeed, the most Italian brioches is also exported abroad. Already in the twentieth century, Italian immigrants began to bring this dessert back to their countries of adoption, in the United States, South America in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, it was necessary to visit a specialized shop, held precisely by a member of the diaspora .

But recently, the export of the panettone has taken a considerable extent. Its history and taste have conquered foreign palets, so much that today the panettone has its own ray in the supermarkets of many countries.

A dessert with multiple legends

After a part of his history, a question remains: when and by whom was created the panettone? Officially, it is impossible to reach it! On the other hand, several legends exist about its creation, but only two of them seem serious.

The first would like a noble Milanese, Ughetto of Attelani, to be mad in love with Algisa, the daughter of a poor baker: Toni. Ready for everything for the elue of his heart, d’Attelani would have been disguised as a bakery apprentice to get hired by Toni. Once recruited, Ughetto would have attempted to create a recipe, with the aim of increasing the baker’s sales.

For this, Ulivo would have used the best flour of the mill, eggs, yeast, butter, honey, grapes and finally candied fruit. The result: a crazy success, which will allow lovers to live their story on the big day.

The second most common legend in Italy tells a whole new story. It was in the kitchens of the royal family of Sforza that the panettone would have been created. During a dinner, Sforza’s captioned kitchenr would have missed his dessert, which caught fire. The latter, panicked, had nothing to serve his guests.

Fortunately, Toni, one of the clerks, would have decided to save the situation by creating a dessert with the remains. By seeing a remnant of bakery yeast and by combining eggs, flour, raisins, sugar and candied fruit, the idea of making a brioché bread would have come to him.

On leaving the recipe of the oven, a very lifted and very soft bread had taken shape. He would then have been served to the Sforza and their guests, who would have been conquered! To such a point that the guests would have requested the name of this dessert. Question to which the chief would have replied: "E' il pane di Toni" (or rather "l pan del Toni" in lombard), "It is Toni's bread".

So, simple legends or reality? Your choice. However, there is still a mystery to be pierced: what is the connection with Christmas?

Well, for this point, we have an authenticated response, which gives credit to the second legend! Indeed, in the Middle Ages, the tradition of large families wants a rich bread (goodly garnished, prepared with the best harvested flour) to be served during the Christmas meal.

The pandoro and the Pandolce: the Veronnais and Genoese alter egos

We just saw it, the panettone is probably from a medieval tradition. But the latter also tells us that the panettone is not the first, nor the last cake made for Christmas. The panettone popularized in Milan and Lombardy, then in Turin and in the Tessin. But other regions also have their Christmas cake!

One of them was the same success as the panettone. This is the pandoro, a traditional recipe from Verona. The dessert would be a revisit (from the 19th century) of the “pan de oro”, the Venetian Christmas cake, the other big city of Veneto . Its process and manufacture is relatively similar to the panettone, except that the pandoro is not garnished inside. Instead, and to justify the name, the cake is sprinkled with ice sugar.

And just like the panettone, its popularity has surpassed its region of origin, to invite itself to supermarkets around the world. For example, those who do not like candied fruit or raisins may have their Christmas bread on the table. Finally, another less famous recipe also exists in Liguria. He is called the Pandolce genovese and he also uses the same ingredients as the lumbar panettone. The only difference is this time in the cake height, less important for the Pandolce.

Now that we know all this, stay to know which of the three Christmas cakes is the best. And for that, what better than a tasting?

Our recipe: the panettone pedestrianais

You understood it, the Christmas “breads” come from northern Italy. Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria... The northern regions have all created their own recipe... except one: the Piedmont, where the panettone has become popular as in its region of origin.

But today, GV offers its own recipe by creating a pedestrian panettone!

Ingredients

For the first step

• Water (12 cl),
• Lait (12 cl),
• 1 bottle of vanilla.

For the second step

• Baking yeast (15 g),
• 6 egg yolks,
• Sugar (50-70 g depending on your preference),
• A drop (all small) of Bicerin (if you don’t have one, you can include a little bit of Grand Marnier),
• Beurre (180 g),
• A pinch of salt,
• Farine (500 g).

For the third step

• Gianduja in tablet or in pieces(130-170 g depending on your preference).

Preparation

Step one

• Fold the vanilla pod in two, scrape the sides with a knife blade to collect vanilla seeds, then cut the ends (about 1 cm);
• Put all this in a pan with milk and water. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Let the result cool down so that the infusion ends;

Second step

• Incorporate all the ingredients of the second step, in the order of the list, into the lukewarm fluid;
• Mix until the dough becomes homogeneous and smooth;
• Finally, let the dough rise for 1h30 (recovery of a film).

Third step

• Lower the dough and incorporate the gianduja (prepared in pepits);
• Take a panettone mould (or carlotte – at least 7 cm high) and butter it;
• Pour the dough and let it rest again 1h30.

Last step

• Preheat the oven to 180°C;
• Once the oven is hot, cook for 40 minutes.