I was in one of those discount stores that sells all kinds of top-brand
goods for a lot less yesterday, and what did I see? A tableful of Italian
Panettone and Pandoro breads. I'm going by the pictures on the boxes now,
because the ingredients were all in Italian, but the difference between
these loaves of panettone and pandoro seems to be that panettone is made
with candied fruit, and pandoro is not. They both are roundish loaves,
baked in high, seemingly fluted molds. The loaves look to be rich in
eggs/yolks, butter, milk, sugar, etc. One of the boxes even had a picture
of panettone "alla cioccola", with small, chocolate chips.
I can just see an Italian housewife making a big batch of rich, buttery
bread dough, dividing it in half, kneading candied fruit into one half for the
folks in the family who love that sugary taste, and forming the other half
into golden loaves for the folks who like their bread unimpeded with sweet
obstacles. Frankly, I love them both. My mother, who is Italian, made
these breads at Christmastime. I remember one year when she forgot to put
the candied fruit into it. We were eating pandoro, and didn't know
it! They have a good shelf life, and make outstanding toast! I have baked
them in loaf pans, and as round, free-form loaves with equal success. I
have never gone to all the work of the recipe in Madelein Kamman's book,
but I can vouch for Craig Claiborne's recipe in "The New York Times
Cookbook." I will go out on a limb and say that, after you've baked it,
you won't wait for Christmas to make
panettone again.
In any case, Happy Holidays and Successful Baking!
Terry
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