Rose's Christmas Shop Watch: Sal De Riso Panettone

Sal De Riso Panettone

Sacla'

What?
Panettone

Why?
An Italian Christmas 

“You only have panettone at Christmas and there is no Christmas without panettone”. This saying demonstrates how central panettone is to the Italian Christmas, but increasingly we are incorporating it into ours. Traditionally it is served at the end of the Christmas meal with coffee or a digestivo: a brandy, an amaro, a limoncello, a glass of vin santo or of something sparkling like prosecco or moscato. So, if you want a lighter alternative to Christmas pudding then simply replace it with a slice of panettone.  An Italian friend Giorgio suggests making a mascarpone cream by adding icing sugar, brandy and powdered coffee to mascarpone and then serving it chilled in an espresso cup alongside the slice. 

However, I prefer to serve it on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day as a simple dessert with an affogato - a scoop of vanilla ice cream “drowned” in coffee or better still in vin santo or grappa. And there are lots of other ways panettone can fit into your Christmas. Serve it lightly toasted for breakfast, or dunked in a cappuccino mid-morning, or dipped in hot chocolate, or sliced with a cup of afternoon tea. It makes the perfect Christmas trifle and any leftovers are wonderful in a bread and butter pudding. Although I find that if I leave it out in the kitchen, it disappears as every passing person sneaks a slice. So, there is little hope of fulfilling the Italian tradition of keeping one slice until Candlemas on February 2 to ward off sickness for the rest of the year.

But how to choose the best panettone? Every supermarket now stocks them so it is easy to pick one up when shopping. But the best panettone are made in Italy and ideally come with no artificial preservatives or flavourings– in fact they taste as if they have just been bought from the local Pasticceria. Panettone originated in Milan, and their signature dome shape symbolises luck and prosperity. They are made with a mother yeast starter with a slow rising process over 3 days, when raisins and orange peel are incorporated into the dough before baking. The end result should be soft, light, moist and buttery. There are also lots of different flavours now to choose from. – limoncello, chocolate, pistachio, orange, cherry but I prefer the classic one.

In spite of their northern Italian heritage, I am suggesting you buy a panettone which was handmade on the Amalfi coast. This is the Classic Milanese Panettone by Sal De Riso found on the Sacla' website. It was the winner of the 2021 World Panettone Championship and has also won a Great Taste award. Salvatore De Riso, is one of only 70 Chef Masters in Italy (Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani) and is famous for his Pasticceria in the seaside town of Minori, where people queue to eat his pastries. His panettone are made using the finest natural ingredients and with a mother yeast over 30 years old along with butter and egg yolks to help the cake rise and keep it moist. Interestingly the sign of a good panettone is oval bubbles of air not circular. This shows it has been proved over a long period of time – 60 hours in the case of a Sal De Riso Panettone.

So central is panettone to an Italian Christmas that we can return to another Italian expression which relates to football: when a manager is not doing a good job, it is said “he is not going to eat the panettone” meaning he will be fired before Christmas!!! But football aside, we can now make panettone central to ours.

Conclusion:
Buon Natale!

Product Details:
Sal De Riso Classic Milanese Panettone (1k)
£39 
sacla.co.uk

Also available: Limoncello Panettone, Tiramisu Panettone and Chocolate Fondue Panettone in the Sal De Riso range.  They all come with a lovely carrier bag which makes them ideal gifts. 

Price and availability as at 30th November 2022 
 

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