Mary Ann's Blog
Pandorato di Verona
December 3, 2024
Pandoro is the elegant sweet Christmas bread that is a signature of the equally elegant city of Verona and is identified by its eight-pointed star shape. Like panettone, it is available all over Italy and is very rarely made at home because the process is a lengthy one with three risings that take about thirty-eight hours! The origins of the light textured golden yellow sweet confection (its name means golden bread), are murky at best.
Some say that it was originally made by Viennese pastry chefs for the royal family of Austria. Venetians will argue that it was made for the wealthy during the Renaissance, who enjoyed it covered in tissue paper thin gold leaf made from gold coins! And yet another argument purports that the Veronese were the first to make a star shaped bread called nadalin in dialect. Whatever the provenance, pandoro requires several long risings of a yeasted dough to achieve its brioche like texture.
Large confection companies like Bauli, make a quick version of pandoro called pandorato. This cake does not begin with a yeast starter and the eggy batter is lightened with baking powder and stiffly beaten egg whites. This version of pandorato has an interesting biscuit-like texture and is very good with fresh fruit sauces and syrups.
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