Warning: this post contains a lot of sugar!
One of the great things about Christmas is that you can eat sweets without feeling (too) guilty. It is time to cheer, to celebrate, to be happy, not exactly the time to count calories. And I love it, let me confess!
Moreover, Christmas brings a lot of traditional dishes that you can find only at this time of the year. It would be a shame to miss them, wouldn’t it? There are many different regional sweets, but there’s one which can be found everywhere in Italy: it’s panettone.
Panettone is THE Italian Christmas dessert. No doubts about it.
Panettone, which literally means big bread, is basically a sweet bread loaf with a tall domed shape. Originally from Milan, it can now be found everywhere in Italy. The original recipe is just with raisins and candied fruits, but it can now be found in all kinds of versions: with chocolate, nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cinnamon and apples, nutmeg, beer, white wine, chestnuts, figs. The list can go on forever.
However, panettone has a rival: pandoro!
Pandoro is another super sweet bread typical of Christmas in Italy. It comes from Verona, and unlike panettone, has no raisins nor candied fruits inside. It is just a buttery yeast bread, shaped like a fustum with an 8-pointed star section (description taken directly from Wikipedia, this was too difficult for me), which is usually served with icing sugar on top – making it insanely sugary and sweet.
So the question always is: panettone or pandoro?
Panettone and pandoro are like the Beatles vs. the Stones, tea vs. coffee, PC vs. Mac, Adidas vs. Nike. It’s a choice of life. Since it is very sweet and simple, pandoro is usually quite popular with kids. As I matter of fact, it was the only Christmas dessert I used to eat in my childhood, stubbornly refusing to try any other sweet. As I grew up and my taste changed, I became a fan of panettone, the old traditional version, and completely forgot about pandoro. It is just too sweet for me now.
But there’s also another kind of panettone!
It’s the panettone genovese, or pandolce, the most popular Christmas sweet in Genova and in Liguria, the region where I live. It is quite different from panettone and pandoro and it is by far my favorite Christmas bread: less sweet, denser, more rustic. It is also much easier to bake and I make it every year to give it as a present to friends and family. Here’s my recipe, if you want to try it.
Panettone genovese
Ingredients
250 grams of flour
100 grams of sugar
16 grams of baking powder
100 grams of butter
1 egg
100 grams of chopped candied fruits
100 grams of pine nuts
100 grams of raisins
Melt the butter. Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a food processor or kneader (I use the Kitchen Aid, for example). Add melted butter and start kneading. Then add the egg and keep on kneading. If the dough doesn’t hold together very well, you can add a little bit of water (be careful not to add too much water when doing so).
When the dough is smooth, add candied fruits, pine nuts, and raisins and keep on mixing. Then shape the dough into a ball, put it on a large plate (to make sure it doesn’t stick to the plate, I use some parchment paper) and let it cool in the fridge for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°. Transfer the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden (45 minutes to 1 hour).
This sounds like the type of Panettone I grew up with. Some of my ancestors came from Genoa, and in the NYC region, this was always the type one could buy at Christmas only. The pre-packaged domed kind is now the only one I can find, and at any time of the year. The domed kind is alright, but not as good as the one that is bread shaped and has pignoli nuts.
I totally agree, nothing beats the bread shaped one! It super easy to make though, why don’t you try making it yourself?
Cinzia
I agree Ann. When I lived in NYC Bleecker Street Pastry was my go to place for fresh Panettone Genovese. I just recently looked them up, and now it’s called Rocco.
To my surprise I was able to order online. The breads are 1 1/2 pounds and orders are processed through Mecato. I received the 3 breads I ordered, and they pretty much are what I remember 30 years ago. The only difference the breads are much smaller.
Is there no yeast in this?
We use baking powder, which is basically chemical yeast. In particular, I used this one:
https://www.ditalia.com/products/bertolini-lievito-baking-powder
I hope this helps!
Cinzia
This sounds wonderful! Every Christmas I give all my family members Panettone but I buy it. Now I may try to make this myself. Always love something homemade from the heart!
How nice! Let me know the result!
Cinzia
Was this at one time known as ponducia?
I don’t think so, I have never heard this word!
My mother’s parents were from Genoa and called this bread Panducia, but it is exactly as you describe Panettone Genovese, with candied fruits, pignoli, and a mix of dark and light raisins. We bought it in NYC, around Houston and Sullivan. If anyone can tell me where I can get Pannettone Genovese, fougasa (focaccia Genovese) bread and biroldo (blood sausage) in the Washingotn, DC area, or shipped to me, I would appreciate it. We used to get them at Raffatos in NYC, but they no longer carry them.
I honestly have no clue about it, I am not familiar with Italian shops in the US! Sorry about that.