What is the difference between the Italian Christmas cakes Panettone and Pandoro?

Panettone

 Panettone I have known for years in London. The Italian restaurants serve it. The Italian caffes and delis sell it. The supermarkets stock it before, during and after Christmas in all sizes. 

It comes from Italy. But also Spain. Our Venezuelan member brought it to our self-catered potluck party one Xmas at Harrovian Toastmasters in NW London, England.

The name means little bread, or modified bread. The best is like a roll or cake.

Panettone looks like a smoothed out pyramid or cone with an undulating edge. The simplest is plain, but you can also get it with raisins and increasingly other flavours. One year Tesco was selling tiny ones in three flavours, plain cake, plain cake with added currants, and chocolate flavour cake. 

If you are expecting a cake, it's at first disappointing to find it is more like a bread. On the other hand, it is extremely more-ish. And it keeps. I had one in a tin for well over six months, high up in the kitchen. It was still edible. Maybe slightly drier. 

If you don't feel it is eating quality, but still too good to waste, you can always turn into into toast. Or make a bread and butter pudding.

Next, what is Pandoro?

Pandoro

Pandoro

Pandoro

Over in Singapore I see pandoro for sale in Fairprice supermarket. What is the difference between painting and Pandora. As you might have guessed, pan d'oro means bread of gold. Gold in colour and flavour, and quality. 

I was shocked to read that only three or four centuries ago, in Italy, the same as probably most of Europe, including the UK, the poor people, the majority, ate black or brown bread. Only the rich could afford white bread. Nowadays, even the poorest person can eat white bread. The supermarket choices would be unimaginable to our grandparents or great grandparents and ancestors. 

As for panettone and pandoro, these were not available when I was a child in the UK. What a choice we have nowadays. 

Pandoro is supposedly from Milan.

Tesco, this year, as before, offers a chocolate panettone, but I prefer the original.

One pound fifty pence, for a 100 g  version, from Tesco, GB.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panettone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandoro

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/310661699

I have several posts on panettone from pervious years. My previous posts with the most interesting text and pictures include

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2014/12/xmas-cakes-round-world.html

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/04/easter-cakes-from-england-europe-and.html

About the author

(About the Author of this blog, Author Angela Lansbury)

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books, including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

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British Cakes and tarts you can try: Banbury Cakes - home made, to use up leftover pastry

With some leftover puff pastry we looked for what we could make. In the good old days everybody made all kinds of pastry at home. Now both homes and restaurants use packet mixes. You can buy pancake mix, frozen made up puff pastry ready to roll out and cook, as well as tart bases.

Trips to restaurants, up north, and to supermarkets, show all kinds of regional cakes, pies and biscuits. What can you make quickly with pastry or leftover pastry, or pastry bought made up, ready-made from the supermarket?

We made Banbury Cakes. Here is the result:

What's the difference between a Banbury cake and an Eccles cake?
The Banbury cake is oval.
The Eccles cake is round.

How do you remember which is which? I think of the round cake looking like a circle, like the letter c appearing twice in the middle of Eccles. Or think of the letter c in twice in circle and twice in Eccles.(Banbury is the other one. Oval. Banbury and oval both contain the letter a.)

How do you make it? Roll out your pastry, put in the filling. Pull the outsides of the pastry into the middle above the filling and pinch it all together in the middle like a small bag. Then turn over and flatten it and roll it out with a rolling pin. As you roll it out, you stretch it into an oval pattern.

What is the filling? Traditionally it is dark and looks like mincemeat (which you can buy ready made in a glass jar from a supermarket in the UK). The difference is that mincemeat contains suet. The Banbury cake has currants (or raisins or sultanas), honey (or sugar), candied orange peel - (or fresh lemon peel). You add nutmeg or cinnamon.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1112640/banbury-cakes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banbury_cake
See Wikipedia for all kinds of English and British cakes.


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.