Panettone by Pavé Milano

Panettone all year long

Pretty much all over the world, holidays are marked with traditional foodstuffs and dishes, at the point that calendars of pastry shops and restaurants of every country are set accordingly. One might impatiently wait for Thanksgiving to come not for the festivity per se, but only to bite the crispy, burnt skin off a huge turkey leg. So it happens in Italy, where parents wait for Panettone as much as their kids wait for Santa to come on Christmas.

Panettone is hard to describe through metaphors or similes: it is not a cake, because of its airiness and bread-like consistency; at the same time, it is not a bread loaf, because of its great softness and sweetness. Simply, it is panettone, a cushion of leavened dough, generously enriched with eggs and butter, stuffed with raisins and orange, lemon and citrus candied zest. Every bite instantaneously melts at the touch of the tongue.

Curiously enough, panettone is not a victim of Italian parochialism, where everything given by traditional is sacred -then untouchable. And we all know that, when it comes to food and recipes, Italians can get pretty radical. The traditional recipe comes from Milan, that same city where starving models frantically runs from one runway to another four times per year. But even though everyone agrees on the existence of an original recipe, panettone is sold in many variations: without candied fruit, topped with almonds, stuffed with chocolate, served with zabajone, not to mention the most recent, creative yet questionable options like strawberry and limoncello cream. Every year, a great and eternal debate starts from Piedmont to Sicily around the end of October: which version is best? Is panettone the best Christmas treat, or is it Pandoro -its historical, buttery-Veronese rival? The answer may vary from house to house, but every single family will eventually end up slicing some left panettone, toasting it and soaking in hot milk around February.

The problem comes when the calendar turns into another festive season with its relative desserts and sweets. All those orphans of panettone will have to wait at least until next November to pick some raisins out of the dough.

Not in Milan.

Thanks to its unstoppable team of bakers and pastry chefs, Pavé serves one of the best panettone in Italy all year long -sliced for breakfast, to take away, sometimes covered with frangipani and chocolate chips and toasted in cubes, so to obtain another breakfast pastry they call Bostock. Pavé is heaven on earth for the crowd of hipster foodies populating the city: everyone can sit at one of their antique sofas or around a wooden communal table to work or chill all day – except for the weekends, when people are also willing to queue outside the place to eat one of their amazing brioches. Panettone at Pavé is an artisanal produce whose recipe is the result of years of studies and experience of the team. While the classical recipe is available even in August (say hallelujah), four new versions come out every year, around Christmas time. They are special editions with gourmet ingredients, such as candied ginger, dried figs, and almonds. A vegan option is also available, standing with the same quality and tastiness as the original one.

And if you’re looking for a romantic gift to share, Pavé also sells Panettone for two, a smaller panettone sealed in a glass jar. It actually works even for lonely hearts to cheer up.

Panettone is the perfect solution for every craving, sweet tooth, nostalgia, panic attack or celebration. So why limiting its consumption in such a short amount of time? By making panettone available on 365 days, Pavé stretches the joy of Christmas all year long. Thank you, Pavé team.