Artisan panettone, lievito madre (sourdough starter) and the slow art of Christmas baking are inseparable from the story of this celebrated Italian Christmas cake.
As Christmas approaches, panettone seems to appear everywhere. Once principally associated with Milan and northern Italy, it is now enjoyed around the world, and Australian shops increasingly display elaborate boxes of imported Italian panettoni alongside versions made by local artisan bakers.
But not all panettone is the same.
There is a considerable difference between an inexpensive, industrially produced panettone and one made slowly by an artisan baker using lievito madre — the traditional natural leaven. The difference is evident in the texture, fragrance, flavour and, inevitably, the price.
And lievito madre takes me back to something my Sicilian father used to tell me about his mother.
Panettone has travelled far beyond its Milanese origins to become one of Italy’s most recognisable Christmas foods.
From Milan to the World
Panettone has long been associated with Milan, but its transformation into an Italian national Christmas tradition owes much to the growth of commercial production during the early twentieth century.
From the 1920s onwards, large-scale producers were able to make panettone more consistently, package it attractively and distribute it by rail throughout Italy. What had been strongly identified with Milan gradually became part of Christmas celebrations across the country.
Eventually, panettone travelled much further.
Today it is produced not only by the large Italian manufacturers but also by pastry chefs and artisan bakers throughout Italy and beyond. The traditional panettone has also inspired numerous variations using regional ingredients and contemporary combinations.
Photo caption: The distinctive tall, domed shape of panettone became synonymous with Christmas throughout Italy during the twentieth century.
Artisan Panettone and Lievito Madre (sourdough starter)
Many inexpensive commercial panettoni rely on production methods designed for consistency, volume and shelf life. Artisan panettone, however, is generally associated with much slower fermentation and, in its traditional form, with lievito madre.
Lievito madre literally means “mother yeast”. It is a living culture of wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria maintained with regular additions of flour and water.
It is related to what English speakers generally call a sourdough starter, although the lievito madre traditionally used for enriched Italian doughs such as panettone is usually maintained differently from the wetter starter commonly used for sourdough bread.
And this is where my grandmother enters the story.
My Sicilian Grandmother Was Using Lievito Madre
When I first began experimenting with bread at home, like most people I used commercial baker’s yeast – lievito di birra in Italian.
My father would tell me that his mother never needed it.
Whenever she made bread, she saved a piece of uncooked dough from the loaf she was shaping, put it aside and used it to leaven the next batch. As far as he was concerned, this was simply how his mother made bread.
My father was Sicilian and full of such stories. He also talked about companion planting and the influence of lunar cycles on sowing, germination and plant growth.
Thinking myself a modern woman, I regarded much of this as folklore.
Years later, when I learned more about natural fermentation, I realised that at least one of those old stories contained some very sound science. My grandmother had been maintaining a form of natural leaven – her own lievito madre.
The yeasts and bacteria within a mature starter ferment the flour, producing the gases that make dough rise while also contributing acidity and a complexity of aroma and flavour that cannot be achieved simply by adding commercial yeast and rushing the fermentation.
Suddenly, my father’s story made perfect sense.
Slow Bread and Zeally Bay Bakery
This appreciation of natural fermentation is one reason I have long enjoyed the breads made by Zeally Bay Sourdough in Torquay, Victoria.
John and Jan Farnan established the bakery with a commitment to traditional sourdough methods and certified organic and biodynamic ingredients. The bakery has developed an extensive range of naturally leavened breads and baked goods, and its culture has a history stretching back to 1981.
Over the years, I have had the pleasure of tasting many of their breads, as well as brioche and Easter buns.
More recently, I tried the bakery’s panettone.
And it was very good.
Photo caption: Naturally leavened artisan bread depends on fermentation, good ingredients and, above all, time.
What Makes a Good Artisan Panettone?
The panettone was fragrant and complex, with the individual flavours of the flour, eggs, butter and fruit still discernible rather than being overwhelmed by sweetness or artificial flavouring.
That complexity is one of the rewards of long fermentation.
A good panettone should be extraordinarily light for something containing so much butter, egg yolk, sugar and fruit. Pull it apart and the crumb should be soft, elastic and almost feathery, with long strands rather than the close texture of an ordinary cake.
Natural leavening also contributes to its characteristic aroma and keeping qualities. Properly made and carefully wrapped, a good panettone can remain beautifully moist for days, with its flavours continuing to meld and develop.
The quality of the ingredients matters too. Butter should taste of butter; citrus peel should taste of citrus; dried fruit should remain succulent rather than becoming anonymous specks suspended in sweet dough.
What looks simple requires considerable skill.
Imported or Locally Made Panettone?
So, if you are planning to serve panettone at Christmas, should you buy an imported Italian one, choose one made by a local artisan baker, or attempt to make your own?
There is no simple answer.
Some commercially produced Italian panettoni are very good, and large-scale production does not automatically mean poor quality. However, it is worth reading the ingredients and considering how the panettone has been made.
With an imported product, freshness is another consideration. Panettone intended for international distribution must survive packaging, transport and storage before reaching an Australian shop.
Higher-priced artisan panettoni are generally made with greater attention to ingredients and fermentation, although price alone is never a guarantee of quality.
Buying from a good local artisan baker offers another advantage: the panettone may have travelled only a few kilometres rather than halfway around the world.
Photo caption: Imported Italian panettone now appears in Australian shops in an extraordinary range of styles, prices and elaborate Christmas packaging.
Panettone Has Moved Beyond Milan
Although Milan remains the spiritual home of panettone, artisan bakers throughout Italy have made the tradition their own.
Alongside the classic combination of raisins and candied citrus peel, contemporary panettoni may contain chocolate, chestnuts, figs, nuts, spices or other regional ingredients.
In Sicily, it is hardly surprising to find artisan panettoni that make generous use of the island’s extraordinary produce: pistachios, almonds, chocolate and candied citrus fruits such as orange, lemon and citron.
These are not necessarily ancient Sicilian traditions. Rather, they demonstrate how a food can retain its essential identity while being adapted to another region’s ingredients and tastes.
Panettone may have begun as a Milanese speciality, but it now provides a canvas for pastry chefs throughout Italy.
Photo caption: Sicilian artisan panettone often celebrates the island’s own ingredients, including pistachios, almonds, chocolate and candied citrus.
Could You Make Panettone at Home?
Of course you could.
The more pertinent question might be: do you really want to?
Few home bakers make traditional panettone, and there is a reason for this. It is one of those foods that looks deceptively simple in its paper mould.
Making a traditional panettone with lievito madre requires patience, precision and an understanding of fermentation. The starter must be mature, active and balanced before you begin.
It needs regular feeding of flour and water to maintain the microorganisms responsible for fermentation. Before making panettone, bakers commonly give the lievito madre repeated feedings of flour to ensure that it is strong enough to raise an exceptionally rich dough.
And it is rich.
Butter, egg yolks, sugar and fruit all make life more difficult for yeast. The flour therefore needs sufficient strength to support the dough through long mixing and fermentation while developing the characteristic tall, airy structure.
The dough is generally developed through successive stages rather than simply mixing everything together and leaving it to rise.
In other words, this is not a cake you decide to make at four o’clock because friends are coming for dinner.
And Then You Hang It Upside Down
Even after the panettone emerges magnificently from the oven, the work is not finished.
The hot, delicate crumb is so rich and fragile that the panettone can collapse under its own weight as it cools.
The traditional solution is wonderfully dramatic.
The base is pierced with long metal skewers and the entire panettone is turned upside down and suspended while it cools — often for many hours. Home bakers improvise by suspending it between two supports or across a deep saucepan.
Hanging allows the delicate internal structure to set without the dome collapsing.
It is one of those techniques that makes you appreciate why an artisan panettone costs considerably more than an ordinary cake.
Photo caption: Freshly baked panettone is traditionally cooled upside down so its delicate, airy structure does not collapse.
So, Will You Make One?
Making traditional panettone at home can be enormously satisfying. For an experienced bread maker who enjoys working with natural leavening, it is a fascinating challenge.
You will need an active lievito madre, strong flour, excellent butter and eggs, good fruit, accurate timing and plenty of patience.
You will mix, knead, wait, refresh, ferment, mix again, wait again, bake — and finally hang your creation upside down.
Or you could find an excellent artisan baker who has already spent years learning how to do all of this.
Christmas is close.
Do you really wish to make your own panettone?
Zeally Bay Sourdough Panettone
PANETTONE AND PANFORTE for an ITALIAN CHRISTMAS
Ponte Rosso, Trieste
