Panettone, the dessert of Milan

It is a dessert that enchants everyone with its round shape and soft consistency. Its uniform and light structure is revealed when cut: it does not crumble, and its scent of butter, vanilla and citrus spreads when tasted. Raisins and candied fruit are distributed in their crumb, and when present, the crunchy glaze completes the experience. These are the distinctive characteristics of an authentic artisanal panettone.

The origin of this dessert is shrouded in legends and traditions, but it is commonly believed that, in reality, panettone originated in Milan in the Middle Ages. Indeed, panettone has ancient origins.

One of the most popular stories tells of a young pastry chef named Toni who, during the Christmas period, created a dessert based on natural yeast, butter, eggs, raisins and candied fruit called “pan de Toni” (Toni’s bread), which then became, over time, “panettone”.

The best known is set in the court of Ludovico il Moro during Christmas night in 1495. The cook employed by the lord of Milan was commissioned to prepare a sumptuous lunch, but he burned the dessert and forgot it in the oven. At this point, Toni, a little boy, proposed using the dessert he had prepared in the morning with the ingredients left in the pantry. The cook agreed and brought to the table that dessert made with a bit of flour, butter, eggs, citron peel and some raisins, and when the enthusiastic guests and the duke asked who the creator of that speciality was, the cook replied: “It’s Toni’s bread”.

According to another legend, he was commissioned to prepare the prized wheat bread for Christmas Eve, which the guests would consume during the log ritual. In fact, in this ancient custom, on the evening of December 24th, it was customary to burn a large log of wood in the fireplace of the main room of the palace. The family members, waiting for midnight, sat around it admiring the baking of the three large wheat loaves, of which the head of the family would distribute a slice to each, saving one for the following year as a symbol of prosperity.

The young cook, born Toni, still inexperienced and perhaps a little bold when faced with what seemed to him to be a relatively simple and not at all demanding task – after having kept aside a small quantity of dough for himself – thought it best to burn the bread intended for the great Lodovico and his entire family. He attempted to remedy this grave mistake for fear of being punished and kicked out of court. Out of despair, he did not hesitate to use his share of the dough to improvise an experiment that could have changed his destiny.

In performance anxiety, he re-kneaded it over and over again. He added eggs, butter, sugar, and spices from the Far East, which were rare, expensive, and in vogue only at the most refined European courts. He then inserted some precious grapes and something even more unique, a real delicacy for the most ambitious palates: candied fruit. And here emerge, from the court cupboard, cedars from Lebanon, oranges from Sicily, lemons from Calabria, fragrant and inebriating. The dough was ready. Toni now had nothing else to add. As a final step, and as tradition dictated, he engraved the top part of the still raw cake with a cross as a sign of blessing.

The bread rose for hours and hours. When he finally put it in the oven, he saw it rise and brown. The fateful moment came, and the bread was ready. Large, majestic, golden, soft as a feather, and just the right amount of sweetness.

The servants finally took it into the hall. Toni could have paid dearly for his audacity and dared not show himself. Lodovico was the first to cut that cake, which had a very different consistency from the bread he knew. But when he tasted it, it was an absolute triumph. He immediately wanted the boy capable of surprising him so much to be introduced to him. The success of this new holiday bread was such that it was given the name Pan de Toni in honour of the chef. The bold chef thus lived “happily ever after” at court, and in the centuries to come, the name of the Christmas dessert was transformed into the one we all know.

A second legend sees panettone as the fruit of love between Messer Ulivo degli Atellani, Ludovico il Moro’s falconer, and Algisa, the beautiful daughter of a baker. The man was hired by her father as a boy and invented panettone to impress his future father-in-law. To help sales, he enriched the bread with butter, sugar and candied fruit, which was an immediate success and allowed the two lovers to get married and live happily ever after.

But some historical sources date this dessert back to 1470, precisely in a document written by Giorgio Valagussa, tutor of the Sforza family, which reports the “ritual of the log” in writing. It is said that during the year, the bakers were forbidden to use “the flour of the rich” and that only at Christmas did everyone eat the same bread, the “Pan de Ton”, that is, the bread of the lords, served with butter, sugar and eggs.

In short, between stories and legends, what is certain is that panettone was born in Milan and that, over the years, it has become the symbol of Christmas in any Italian home.