Pandoro
Some words are lost in translation: our Pandoro isn’t one of those. Literally
“golden bread” (due to both its color and amount of egg used in baking), Pandoro is a star-shaped crown of a cake-bread and is dusted with powdered sugar before serving. The sight of this cake brings to mind a snow-capped mountain in the Alps or the Apennine Mountains that kept Italy a kingdom of regions, each with its own specialty in the baker’s art.
Available only seasonally—from now till Christmas, the most beautiful meal of the year—Pandoro, at first glance, looks like it belongs on the table of the Montagues and Capulets, those star-crossed families of Verona in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. And indeed Pandoro was invented in Verona! In truth, however, Pandoro as we know it is really a 19th century invention of Italian Bakers-- not unlike Panettone, the fruit-and-raisin-studded holiday cake. Like the panettone it is made from a “mother-starter” without the use of commercial yeast and has remarkable keeping qualities-- without preservatives. Still, despite its Victorian-era origins, it sure seems to belong to the High Renaissance: a stunningly glorious looking creation.
When sliced horizontally, the Pandoro produces a piece in the shape of a star.
More traditionally it is cut vertically and is a perfect vehicle for preserves, conserves, gelato, jams, jellies, and ice cream. Or by itself, the Pandoro provides a pound-cake like use: elegant and beautiful in its simplicity of taste and design.
A dramatic eight-sided mountain of cake-bread, replete with sugar for snow, our
Pandoro provides an almost endless array of possibilities for your Holiday dessert table.
- Michael DiCamillo
Comments 0