Posted on 12/22/2022 10:24:52 AM PST by nickcarraway
When thinking of Sicily, it's easy to imagine white sandy beaches, timeless architecture and a host of delicacies like arancini, caponata and cannoli. But panettone would not be among the first things to come to mind.
The popular Christmas cake is traditionally baked in the north of Italy, particularly in the city of Milan, where it was invented. That's almost 1,000 miles — the length of the whole country — from Palermo, Sicily's main city. But not far from Palermo, Nicola Fiasconaro is upending panettone tradition — and exporting his upstart creation all over the world.
It all started in Castelbuono, a tiny village framed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Madonie, one of Sicily's highest mountain ranges. Here, the Fiasconaro family has long owned an ice cream shop and bar in the town's main square, and in the late 1980s, Nicola was a young pastry chef with a penchant for innovation: "My father used to buy 2,000 industrially made panettones from the north, to sell in our bar during the holidays, but I challenged him to make our own," he says.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
“Inconceivable”
It looks like he’s putting a chocolate glaze/icing on one (???)
If this man is allowed to continue, next thing you know, he’ll be putting pineapple on pizza
Every panettone I have seen or eaten is dry, bready, with a sparse scattering of candied fruit. Stale sweet bread.
Is that how it is supposed to be? My guess is that there is such a thing as delicious panettone but that, as with fruitcake, horrible commercial versions have prevailed.
This product doesn’t really prove or disprove his sanity. just saying.
Problem...you can't stop eating it.
“Leave the gun. Take the panettone.”
Seriously, good for them. Who doesn’t like a free-enterprise success story?
I live a good free enterprise story!
But I’m still having my Christmas pudding!
...love a good...
Or hearing “Dominick the Donkey” for the first time.
HaHa, had to look that one up.
Nick, my experience has been exactly the same as yours. Then someone brought in a bread to work the other day that was moist and tasty. I didn’t see any labels or anything that indicated it was a panatonne (sp) but it sure looked like one, so I guess this is a thing that can be done well!
From Glen and Friends, one of my favorite recipe channels.
Cook’s Country (part of America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated) has a recipe for White Fruitcake that actually sounds like what it should be…here’s the recipe if anyone wants to try it out
“White Fruitcake”
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Nowadays, fruitcake gets a bad rap, but we wanted a version that was light, flavorful, and full of tender fruit. A quick maceration with warmed orange juice softens and flavors store-bought glacéed fruit. A few pulses in the food processor break down the nuts and coconut with the flour to prevent a stringy, soggy texture. A final sprinkling of slivered almonds and powdered sugar finish our fruitcake for a festive, surprisingly delicious dessert.
INGREDIENTS
½ cup orange juice
2 pounds glacéed fruit (4 cups)
1 ½ cups (6 3/4 ounces) slivered almonds
1 cup (3 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Generously grease 12-cup tube pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Microwave orange juice in medium bowl until hot, about 30 seconds. Add glacéed fruit and stir to coat completely. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2
Process 1 cup almonds, coconut, and ¼ cup flour in food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. Transfer to second medium bowl and whisk in remaining 1¾ cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with glacéed fruit in 2 additions, scraping down bowl as needed. Give batter final stir by hand.
3
Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Sprinkle evenly with remaining ½ cup almonds. Bake until skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 2 hours, rotating pan halfway through baking.
4
Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan, discarding parchment and reinverting so almonds are on top, and let cool completely, about 3 hours. Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Serve.
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