[Sca-cooks] Re: Sweet bread or cake recipe also Mace

[Terry Decker]

Panettone in the recipe William describes probably gets its start in Milan 
during the 15th Century.  It may derive from an earlier large loaf of bread 
which was served during Christmas as early as the 10th Century.  Over the 
centuries, the loaf became enriched and stuffed with fruit and nuts.  Modern 
panetonne comes in both the mushroom shape and as a large slightly flattened 
loaf (which probably the original shape).  As near as I can tell, it was a 
commercial product from the start.

There is a similar fruit bread from Verona, pandoro.  The shape appears to 
derive from a medieval Veronese Christmas cake, nadalin.  Nadalin appears to 
have been a star shaped bread stuffed with fruit and possibly topped with 
sugar.  A number of sources suggest that pandoro in its modern form is a 
19th Century derivative of Viennese baking techniques applied to a 
traditional form.

Modern recipes for panettone, pandoro and stollen are all heavy on the sugar 
in the dough, which I think may be the Viennese influence.  Older forms of 
enriched dough are closer to brioche, using fats and eggs, but not much 
sugar.

As for English recipes, a lot of them use currants, but very few use almonds 
and those that do use them as almond paste (a take off from simnels, I 
assume).  If you choose to use one, you will probably need to modify the 
recipe to use your currant and almond mix.

With the currant and almond mix you have, I think I would try the panforte

Bear


> Bear, the first recipe sounds related to Digby cakes (cream, currants,
> sherry), or what I have been using as Digby cakes.  Wonder if it would
> work as a loaf?  The almonds and currants are mixed together and so not
> possible to turn into almond paste any more, but it might work as a
> base.  I will have to play with it, thank you.  Have you tried the
> proportions?
>
> William, the Pannettone sounds yummy, and related to the familiar (to
> me) Stollen, except for the shape.
>
> Any other suggestions out there?
>
> Gwen Cat