Sweets have always been a synonym of holidays, and especially on Christmas time, when they are always at the centre of Italian dinner tables. Panettone, Pandoro and Torrone are the classic Christmas desserts in this country known as Bel Paese, along with the typical homemade sweets of each region, whose scents immediately remind us of the holiday atmosphere. Easy Diplomacy suggests a brief and very sweet national tour to provide you with a tasty full immersion in the Italian Christmas atmosphere.
PANETTONE – MILAN
Created in Milan, soft and fragrant, the Panettone is never missing from Italian tables, because it is the most typical sweet of these holidays and it is a real national tradition.
The original recipe is obtained from sourdough, with flour, fresh eggs, raisins, candied fruit and butter.
It is the pride of Milan’s pastry, and it has a quite curious story. Its name, Panettone, derives indeed from Pan de Ton (Toni’s bread). Toni, a humble kitchen boy who was a servant of Duke Ludovico il Moro, on a Christmas Eve around the year 1495 was obliged to sacrifice the last piece of sourdough that he had reserved for his Christmas celebration because the cook of the Sforza family had burnt the dessert meant for the banquet.
By working over and over again on a mass of flour, eggs, sugar, raisins and candied fruits until making it soft and leavened, he obtained an unequalled success, creating, almost by chance, a sweet that Ludovico il Moro named Pan de Ton after him.
PANDORO – VERONA
Created in the city of Verona, characterized by the shape of a truncated cone with the base of a five-pointed or eight-pointed star, it is distinguished by its soft texture and vanilla scent.
It is obtained from flour, sugar, egg yolk, butter, cocoa butter, sourdough, vanilla and salt, it needs long work, as in its authentic handmade version it requires four days of preparation.
Pandoro was designed by an impressionist painter, Angelo Dall’Oca Bianca.
The shape and recipe of the dough were instead registered under the copyright of Domenico Melegatti, the owner of the pastry industry with the same name.
TORRONE – THERE IS A DIFFERENT ONE IN EACH REGION
Created in the Middle East and later spread all around the Mediterranean, it became so famous in Italy that each region now has a different recipe. It was already known at the time of the Romans, created with the shape of Torazzo (the city tower), according to the tradition the dessert was served at the wedding celebration of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti.
It can be white and soft in Milan, with almonds in Sicily, with hazelnuts in Rome, or with a mixture of dried fruit, with candied citrus, hard, soft or crumbly. The traditional torrone is a real delicacy of these holidays.
CARTELLATE – PUGLIA
They are typical of the South of Italy, obtained from a mixture of water, oil and flour, that is then rolled out, cut into strips and then rolled on itself. The tradition says that this sweet has the shape of the swaddling clothes of the Child Jesus. They are usually dipped into cooked wine, but they can also be dipped into honey or sugar powder.
These sweets were once offered as a gift to the Virgin Mary for her to protect the new crops.
STRUFFOLI – NAPLES
A typical Neapolitan dessert of these holidays, they have the shape of dough balls, fried in oil and later immersed in hot honey, and decorated with little pieces of candied fruit or sugar or coloured sprinkles. Struffoli have really ancient origins, in fact they are believed to have been introduced by the greek and their name may have derived from the word strongoulos meaning rounded.
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