|
 Pandoro, "golden bread," is a tall distinctively star-shaped golden yeast bread served during the Christmas season. It has a wonderfully silky texture with a delicious butter and vanilla aroma and taste. Pandoro is sold with packets of powdered sugar, which is sprinkled over the cake.
History
Pandoro, in its present-day version, first appeared in late 19th-century Verona. There are two different legends about its origin. The first dates pandoro's birth back to the Renaissance, and to custom of wealthy Venetian bakers to dust gold leaf on cone-shaped cakes called pan de oro ("bread of gold"). The second version attributes a humbler origin to the pandoro, suggesting that it might descend from a star-shaped family cake called "nadalin" that simple people in Verona enjoyed at Christmas
 Serving suggestions
Heat your pandoro slightly in an oven or microwave to release its full buttery flavor and lovely aroma. Top with a sprinkling of confectioners sugar, then serve.
Serve pandoro with zabaione, an Italian custard, or with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, or even ice cream. To create a festive Christmas-tree-looking treat, cut the pandoro in thick horizontal slices and stack them at angles on a serving platter, to resemble the branches of a fir tree."
Pandoro, which is sold before Christmas stays fresh through spring, and can be used as the base for hundreds of delicious recipes.
Pandoro Recipes
How Pandoro is Made
Pandoro has relatively few ingredients---flour, sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla. It's this combination of quality ingredients that give the cake its characteristic egg-rich buttery flavor. A unique kneading process and the natural sourdough yeast used in its preparation create the cake's delicate texture. The yeast mixture goes through a three-phase fermentation process before it is blended with the flour and other ingredients, then it is kneaded and left to rise minimum three times before baking.
  
A Note on Authenticity
Pandoro has its code of practice, defining ingredients, production process and labeling prerequisites, as a part of the "Quality Program" undertaken by the Italian Confectioners Association with the aim to preserving, safeguarding and boosting centuries-old recipe.
The Italian Government has even classified Pandoro as "Denominazione Riservata" which means that for a product to carry the name "pandoro" it must be made according to a very strict set of criterion, including the quality and minimum quantity of key ingredients used.
|
|
