Buone Natale

Christmas would be incomplete for me without a panettone, a risen bread rich with eggs and butter, sweet with honey, scented with vanilla and lemon zest, with the finishing touch of dried and candied fruits. This labor intensive treat is best accompanied by hot cocoa or liqueur, although I have been known to toast a slice for breakfast or to even make a type of French toast using panettone.

My grandmother made them when I was a child, mixing ingredients, including a special flavoring that came from Italy called "spumadoro" which has a distinctive citrus flavor. The dough would rise, rest, be punched down and allowed to rise again and again, producing a high and light treat. The traditional method is accomplished over the course of several days, including long sessions of kneading and allowing for up to 20 hours of rising, creating a sweet, complex flavor as a result of the fermentation of the dough. Traditional panettone uses a biga – a pre-ferment made from a mixture of flour, yeast and water that ferments overnight – to achieve a high rise and a nice deep flavor.

This famous Italian bread has its modern-day beginnings in Milan, Italy, around the 15th century; that much is certain as it is mentioned in a recipe book written the personal chef to popes and emperors during the time of Charles V. The origins of this cake appear to be far older, dating back to the Roman Empire when ancient Romans sweetened a type of leavened bread with honey. The first recorded association of panettone with Christmas can be found in 18th century writings.

As with many things whose origins are lost to time, panettone is the stuff of legends and numerous stories about how it originated abound. The most common version refers to young nobleman who fell in love with the daughter of a poor baker named Toni. In order to impress the daughter, the nobleman disguised himself as a pastry chef’s apprentice in her father’s bakery and created a tall fruit studded bread to present to her father, calling it “Pan de Toni” and winning the admiration of the lady and the father’s respect who then blesses the marriage. Another version refers to a poor baker named Tonio who developed a special bread to earn the dowry for his daughter to marry a nobleman. A different version altogether says it was Christmas and the cook in a famous Milan family had no dessert to offer, so the guests were given a sweet bread baked by a kitchen boy called Toni. All three stories are rich and fanciful, just like a panettone.

Many variations exist, including cake stuffed with chocolate chips, cream, or even lemon liqueur, but the traditional recipe for a fluffy, dome-shaped cake dotted with dried fruit and candied citrus peel remains my favorite, with more than 50 million sold during the Christmas holidays. I will eat my share, both as dessert or breakfast, the yeasty citrus scent taking me back to my grandmother's kitchen with its wonderful sights, sounds, and smells, and the good times we shared as a family in that room full of love.