Happy New Year 2012….we are looking forward to fulfilling many dreams and goals this year and like many we are making “promises” to ourselves…mine…to learn Italian and run more….I will NEED to run after all the wonderful Italian sweets we had this weekend!!
The best thing about being a lover of all things Italian is all your friends and family start giving you things that you might enjoy…like…our Holiday favorite…Panettone!!
My mother in law introduced me to Panettone…a sugar bread filled with fruit. She told stories of how her family from Italy used to make it in terra cotta pots and wrapped with brown paper bags and ate toasted with jam and butter or straight off the loaf.
I believe this is a true Italian secret…you can only find them here in E Tennessee on the highest shelves in groceries or pharmacy stores around the holidays and you have to be really looking for them. I have buttered and toasted these for several years now and introduced this wonderful bread to my entire family.
Originally from Milan, it is a cupola shaped bread with oranges, lemon citron, raisins and more. It is light and airy not hard and heavy like fruit cake (yuck). Although they have been adding honey to bread since Roman times, this fruit bread has several myths and stories or how it originated. One legend is , the Chef working a dinner for the Count of Sfozas had nothing to serve for dessert and his apprentice Toni threw a few items in the bread and it was such a hit with the court that it was called “pan del toni”. Ha…I have no idea if that is true but it is a cute tale. In 1919, Angelo Motta started the tradition of letting it rise for 20 hrs to get the tall shape it has become today. Several bakers have competed to be named the best around the country using several different recipes.
My favorite brand and the most often found here is the yellow box “Bauducco” which according to the side panel has been the “king of panettone” since 1954 and takes 50 hrs to complete! YUM is all I can say.
This year I was introduced to a new Holiday item…Torcetti…meaning “little twists”. These little sweet cookies originated in the Piedmont area. They are light and crispy. They can be made with left over dough and many recipes can be found on the internet. We dipped them in our coffee but Italians dip them in their…surprise…wine!
No New Year would be complete without some Prosecco. My sweet hubby brought home a lovely Italian bottle for the evening which were paired with fresh peach juice!
Whatever you indulged in this New Year season I hope it was special. I am forever learning more about Italian secrets and still wondering how in the world they all stay in such great shape????
Pannetone -tall, sweet and yummy!
Another good brand we were given this year.
These “little twists” were served with jam and hazelnut spread.
This washed all my sweets down perfectly!
One last look before it’s all eaten….
