I had my first panettone when I was in London a couple of years ago. We were visiting some of Gabe’s family just before Christmas, and everyone from Harrods to the high street were celebrating the holidays with panettone. For breakfast every morning, we’d have a slice of this or that bakery’s Italian, light-as-air bread, all while hanging out with Gabe’s family before starting the day. While I confess that I wasn’t sophisticated enough to tell the difference between any of the cakes at the time, I did know that I liked all of them, and came home wondering where I could get some myself locally.
To my dismay, it seemed like finding panettone in Calgary was like finding a needle in a haystack. Italian bakeries have become scarce, and panettone, whose yeast starter needs months to prepare for that fluffy texture, was even more so. I debated many times purchasing some of the paper-box and tin can versions, packaged and shipped from overseas, but I really wanted to find something local to enjoy and share with family and friends. That’s what panettone is to me, a sweet bread to be enjoyed with family and warm feelings to be shared among friends.
Enter Canova. An Italian bakery from Edmonton that ships province wide to select retailers, Canova has been making their artisan panettone since 2016. Available at most Sobey’s in Calgary, Canova’s panettone is a treat I look forward to almost every year.
But Wait, What is Panettone?
The best way to describe panettone is that it’s like a fruitcake, only with candied orange peel and raisins instead of cherries and other colourful preserves. The texture is also much more fluffy and light than your typical fruitcake, and underneath the brown crust is something that’s kind of like the inside of a croissant.
The thing I like the most about panettone is that it’s not too sweet. You’d think that for a sweet bread featuring candied fruits that it would be almost like a cookie, but that’s far from the truth. I’m also a fan of the simple combination of orange peel and raisins that add a bit of tang and chewiness to an otherwise light experience. It is important to find good panettone though, and not all panettone is created equal. Boxed panettone tends to be dry and crumbly, so it’s important to get panettone that’s fresh if you want to enjoy the airy side of the cake.
Panettone is usually eaten around Christmas time, so it’s no surprise that we’re starting to see it in grocery stores around town. Canova this year has created two types of panettone: a classic flavour featuring candied orange peel and raisins, and a chocolate version where the fruits are replaced by chunks of chocolate.
How to Serve and Eat Panettone
A good friend of mine comes from an Italian family, and so I asked her how they eat panettone. Her response was just to have it straight up! Her family just slices the cake up and serves as a dessert, or even for breakfast (eating cake for breakfast is a thing that I really enjoy). For the chocolate panettone, she recommends heating up the bread briefly in the microwave (about ten seconds will do), and enjoying the bread warm.
Panettone is, at its core, a bread that’s sweet, meaning that you can use it in a variety of recipes where you’d use any other bread. Though I’ve never tried it myself, I have seen recipes for Panettone French Bread, Panettone Bread Pudding, and even Panettone Stuffing. Wild! I think it’s fun to be able to enjoy something in so many different ways, and I may just have to give one of them a try this winter.