If you’ve been to Italy during Christmas time, you have probably noticed bakeries’ windows full of fluffy, yeasty, sweet bread, heavily decorated with sugar, almonds, chocolate, and more. And if you have entered any supermarket, without doubt you have noticed hundreds of cardboard boxes filling the shelves. Well… they all contain either panettone or pandoro!
In Italy, a Christmas meal without panettone or pandoro is unimaginable. Families start buying and eating them even already in mid-November. But the real dilemma is which one to choose, panettone or pandoro? Every Italian family is split between panettone lovers and pandoro lovers. The first group loves the raisin and candied fruit that are typically added to the panettone dough; the second group normally dislikes candied fruit and prefers to go for a simpler, but very buttery, dough. The solution to solve the panettone vs pandoro dilemma? Serve both!!!
The process to prepare both panettone and pandoro is very time consuming as they have to rise and that requires many hours. This is why the majority of Italians decide to buy them. But what are the main differences and what’s the history behind panettone and pandoro?
1. Panettone
Panettone is a dome-shaped fluffy sweet cake. In the original version, the dough contains candied fruit and raisins. The top part is often decorated with sugar sprinkles and almonds. However, some non-traditional versions are becoming more and more popular; for instance, many people decide to replace the candied fruit and raisins with chocolate chips, others decide to keep only the raisins, but to leave out the candied fruit
Panettone is originally from Milan. It has ancient origins: many different legends narrate how it was first invented. It is unclear when exactly it was born, but what is sure is that the first references to this sweet bread date back to the end of the 15th century.
The main ingredients include flour, water, yeast, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, raisins, candied lemon and orange peel, honey, vanilla, almonds, and marsala wine.
2. Pandoro
Pandoro is a cake with an eight-pointed star-shape that is dusted with powdered sugar. It contains more butter than panettone and has a distinctive golden color. It can be eaten alone, or stuffed with Nutella or mascarpone, or both. Normally, kids prefer pandoro because it is simpler.
Pandoro originated in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet, in the Veneto Region. Its shape was designed by Angelo Dall’Oca Bianca, an Italian impressionist painter. In 1894, the shape, together with the original recipe, was presented at the patent office by Domenico Melegatti, head of the Melegatti confectionery company. This is when pandoro was officially born.
The main ingredients include flour, water, yeast, sugar, eggs, honey, lemon zest, vanilla, and butter.
