What is Panettone?
Panettone is a type of sweet bread loaf originally from Milan usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year. For Italians in particular, it wouldn’t be Christmas without panettone! In recent years it has become a popular addition to the Christmas table across the globe. Typically, panetonne has a cupola shape, which extends from a cylindrical base and is usually about 12–15 cm high for a panettone weighing 1 kg. It contains candied orange, citron, and lemon zest, as well as raisins, which are added dry and not soaked. Many other variations are available such as plain or with chocolate. Italian food manufacturing companies and bakeries produce 117 million panettone and pandoro* cakes every Christmas — worth 579 million euros.
It was originally called Tony’s Bread or Pan de Tonio. In Italian folklore, it is widely believed that Panettone originated in the Italian city of Milan during the 15th century. There are several legends about how panettone came into being – we have shared below the most festive version.
A Christmas fairy tale in Milan
In Milan during the 15th century, there lived a baker named Tony who had a beautiful daughter named Adalgisa.
Ughetto della Tela, hawk breeder to the Duke of Milan fell in love with Adalgisa. Their love, as it often happened back then, was opposed by Ughetto’s wealthy family. So he could only meet her at night when Adalgisa was up too, attending to the bread making in her fathers’ bakery.
Unfortunately for Tony, a new bakery opened nearby and he began to lose customers. Sadly, he bacame ill, leaving Adalgisa to do all the work. The gallant Ughetto offered help. He wanted to improve the bread by adding some butter to the mix, but the struggling bakery had no money to buy the additional ingredient. Ughetto sold some of his prized hawks to buy all the butter he needed.
The bread was an immediate success. It became even more popular when Ughetto decided to add a little sugar to the recipe. Next, he decided to add candied citron and eggs. At Christmas he added raisins. Tony’s bakery prospered and he became very wealthy.
Ughetto finally proposed to Adalgisa and without hesitation, Ughetto’s family approved the marriage to the wealthy young woman from the bakery and they lived happily ever after….
Or was it the Duke?
Another popular legend involves Ludovico Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. Famed as a patron of Leonardo da Vinci and best known as the man who commissioned The Last Supper.
One Christmas at his castle the Duke held a big party with a luxurious banquet that was due to finish with a dessert. The art of dessert-making was a very special art at that time: it showed the quality of the kitchen of the seigneury. For that occasion the chef had prepared a special dessert, however it burned.
On seeing the desperation of the cook, Toni, a young kitchen boy, proposed a solution: “With the leftovers in the pantry – a little flour, butter, egg, lime zest and some raisins – I made this cake. If you have nothing else, you can bring it to the table”. The cook agreed, the guests were delighted and when the Duke asked the name of the delicacy, the chef revealed the secret: “This is the Pan de Toni” (bread of Toni). From the phrase “Pan de Toni”, the word “panettone” was therefore created.
*Pandoro
Pandoro is traditional Italian sweet yeast bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Typically a Veronese product, pandoro is traditionally shaped like a frustum with an 8 pointed-star section. It is often served dusted with vanilla scented icing sugar made to resemble the snowy peaks of the Italian Alps during Christmas.