Panettone: Ten Things You Can Do with That Delicious Bread-Cake Thing
Updated: Nov 30, 2022
Italian or not, you have no doubt been in a store recently and seen displays full of red or yellow boxes containing this seasons most infamously Italian gifted and re-gifted confectionary delight: panettone.
Panettone is a sweet Italian bread that is usually made with raisins, candied fruit peels, almonds and brandy that has it's origins in Milan, Italy. Panettone often gets mixed reviews. I love it. My son loves it so much that, when he was little, we used to buy him the miniature panettone to make him feel special. My mom enjoys it and has it toasted for breakfast some days. Others simply think of it as "meh", while a select few absolutely despise it's texture and flavor. Then there are people who see it and have no idea what they're supposed to do with it.
That always confuses me.
It's food. You eat it.
Anyway, if you're still at a loss, here's a list of 10 things you can do with that delicious dome:
Take a picture of the panettone display and post it on social media with the caption: "It's panettone season, people."
Open the box, cut yourself a nice slice and mangia within minutes of getting it home from the store. Fresh panettone is the best panettone.
Slice it, prepare it French-toast style and grill it up on the stove or stick it in the oven for baked Frenchtalian Toast.
Follow a bread pudding recipe and substitute the bread with panettone.
Cube it up and use it in a trifle with some of your favorite fruits and yogurt, pudding, or whipped cream. Here's a fun recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.
In a time crunch? How about a panettone layer cake with cream cheese frosting like this one from Cooking with Nonna?
Coarsely chop up some panettone in a food processor and toast it in the oven for a yummy topping for custards or puddings.
Cut your panettone into cubes, toast them and you have yourself a batch of fancy croutons.
Toast two slices of panettone and break out the Nutella for some chocolately-hazelnut-citrusy goodness.
Like tiramasu? Use your panettone instead of lady fingers and follow this easy recipe.
Even if you enjoy it straight from the box as much as we do, you'll inevitably be left with, at least, a quarter-to-half of it that you're not really sure what do with. The joke is trying to convince yourself that, if you haven't eaten the whole thing, you've spared yourself at least 5 pounds of holiday weight gain.
Stop lying to yourself. It's the Christmas season. Just eat the panettone.
