Panettone The Italian Christmas Cake

Panettone is an Italian Christmas cake that is light, airy and moist. It’s made with eggs, milk, butter, and studded with raisins and candied fruit throughout the cake, and it’s typically enjoyed during Christmas and New Year.  So buttery and delicious, you will fall in love with cake!

Panettone The Italian Christmas Cake

The Italian Christmas cake, known as Panettone, is best served with coffee, espresso or tea and it is usually served at breakfast. It’s often enjoyed as an afternoon treat as well.

Some call it a Christmas bread while others call it a Christmas cake. And, it is baked in a special cylindrical mold which gives it, its distinctive look. Traditionally, it’s really an Italian Christmas cake that is eaten during the Christmas season.

A Holiday Tradition

The panettone has been a holiday tradition for Christmas in Italy for centuries, and one in our family for as long as we can remember. We always enjoy eating this cake throughout the month of December. It’s my husbands favorite breakfast of all, and he looks forward to getting one every year.

It’s legendary origins go back several centuries to Italy where it’s traditionally served as a dessert on holidays, especially served on New Year’s Eve with a glass of prosecco.

Ways to Enjoy The Christmas Cake, Panettone

It’s a versatile cake. You can enjoy it alone, or use it to make a panettone bread pudding.  We love it throughout the season. And, even when it’s goes stale, we slice it and make French Toast with it. It’s so delicious!

Where can we buy Panettone?

Today, you can find panettone in most supermarkets and gourmet stores this time of year. Imported from Italy, you will find some that are covered with chocolate, we love those too!  And they even make mini panettone’s, which are ideal for the individual servings.

How do we keep Panettone fresh for days?

When you buy panettone, unwrap the outside packaging carefully, then open the inside plastic wrapping. Cut a slice, or as many servings you need, then reseal the cake using the original plastic wrap to keep it fresh for days. If you never had one before, this is the season to try one.

A Recipe for the Panettone

If you’re up for a challenge to making this Italian panettone Christmas cake homemade, here is a recipe we found online.  How to make a panettone from scratch? The best recipe we found was located in an article about Sullivan’s St. Bakery in New York City  which was featured in Gourmet Magazine back in December 2008.

In the meantime…. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!  We have a few more recipes before Christmas!
In the meantime, have a great day! 🙂