Panettone is the symbol of Italian Christmas and during the festive season you would be hard pressed to walk the streets of Milan, its city of origin, without seeing them tucked under peoples arms. There is friendly (but heavy!) debate between friends for where to get the best panettone, and for whose has the most beautiful wrapping - for they are all always wrapped up ready to be gifted, perfect parcels for under the tree.
So what makes panettone so special?
Panettone, The Cake Protected by Law
Well, panettone is so special in fact that it is a protected by law. Much like the DOP for extra virgin olive oil ensuring protect authenticity and quality, panettone has legislation to protect the traditional and authentic processes of the Italian speciality. Panettone is actually a type of sourdough, made with a mother dough, so the law states to be called 'panettone' it must contain natural yeast so that this can't be faked.
Traditional, Delicious and a Little Healthy!
Aside from the value in protecting the traditions themselves, it does make a real difference to the product quality and taste. You know how sourdough bread is tastier, longer lasting, and easier to digest than regular white bread? Well panettone is the same. The natural yeast from the mother dough and the authentic processes used to make it result in a panettone noticeably different to industrial and regular baked products. So, much like sourdough, you can immediately taste the difference between the real and the fake stuff. A real panettone has a stronger fragrance and flavour, is noticeable in the bouquet and taste, the shelf life of the product and in its digestibility.
Here’s why:
- These natural yeasts release more fragrant aromas and more often = tastier.
- The yeast microorganisms have natural anti mould agents = it lasts longer.
- These also help to break down the gluten = more digestible.
Delicious Christmas treats that are better for you? Yes please!
What About Panettone Made With Olive Oil?
A few years ago at Nudo we decided to take panettone one step further on this goodness front; we swapped out butter for our extra virgin olive oil.
We have used extra virgin olive oil in baking recipes before and know that it often creates results with softer textures and moist yet light bakes, plus has the benefit of being a healthier option to use. So we really wanted to try this with the traditional Italian Christmas cake and create an exclusive Nudo recipe, merging two of the Italian greats into one new one: extra virgin olive oil panettone.
What could be more Italian than extra virgin olive oil panettone, right?
So, we worked closely with the experts at Pasticceria Scarpato to adjust the original recipe to use our extra virgin olive oil instead of the usual butter. After several trial and error batches, tweaking things here and there, we got the result. The delicious, delicious result. The panettone that came out after the 3-day making and baking process, was light and fluffy yet soft and moist, and the extra virgin olive oil gave the flavours depth bringing out the aromas even more.
Now, obviously we love our extra virgin olive oil here at Nudo so may be a little biased, but we shared this around and we aren’t the only ones who loved it...
New York Times
“A panettone that will be reduced to crumbs in minutes…moist, rich and aromatic.”
The Guardian
“Opened just to taste, the entire thing was gone in 30 minutes…wonderful tearable texture, moist crumb, perfect amount of fruit, lovely squidgy crust…. practically panettone perfection.”
We make our panettone once a year in a limited run, so if you want to try our exclusive and original recipe olive oil panettone make sure you get in quick before they go!