Five Recipes for Leftover Panettone and a Few Variations

Pannetone is a sweet Italian bread, much like a brioche only it usually has sultanas and mixed peel inside. You can get a similar bread without the peel called Pandoro or Bread of Gold which will do just as well in any of these recipes. It is a festive bread that’s often given at Christmas and Easter. I’m a fan of the stuff but there are ALWAYS leftovers which is a very good thing because it is even tastier forming part of another dish.

Here are five ways to use leftover Pannetone – or if you don’t have any Pannetone giving friends, it can usually be found fairly cheaply at a half decent Italian supermarket or grocery store.

1. Bread and Butter Pudding
Probably THE most popular way to use up leftover pannetone. You can take any of your favourite bread and butter puddings and just replace the bread with your pannetone.

I liked the sound of this one from Mangia Bene Pasta because it uses both citrus and Marsala and should pick up nicely on any peel that your panettone might already have.

Orange Bread Pudding (Serves
6 oz. panettone, thinly sliced (about 8 slices)
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup Marsala wine
3 eggs
2 tsp. grated orange zest
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Confectioners’ sugarPreheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a shallow 3 quart baking dish. Layer the bread slices in the baking dish.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the milk and sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add the heavy cream, rum, and Marsala.

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, orange zest, and cinnamon. Slowly stir in the milk mixture. Pour the mixture over the bread slices, pressing the bread down to keep it submerged. Let stand 10 minutes.

Place the baking dish in a larger roasting pan. Pour hot water around the baking dish to a depth of 1 inch. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted mid-way into the pudding comes out clean and the top is golden.

Cut into squares. Serve warm or chilled, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

Some more variations:
Pannetone pudding with blueberries (Tesco magazine)
Gladys’ Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding (has Cognac)
Panettone Toffee Banana Pudding Recipe (cdkitchen.com)

And here is Keith Snow from HarvestEating.com showing with a live demonstration of his recipe:

2. French ToastI liked this panettone french toast recipe because it was quite simple and recommends maple syrup and mascarpone on the side – I love french toast with maple syrup and mascarpone.

Betsy’s Panettone French Toast (from Montreal Gazette, December 13 2006) – Serves 4
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cup milk or cream
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 slices panettone or pandoro, about 3/4 inch thick
3 tablespoons butter for frying, divided useFOR SERVING:
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
Maple syrup

Lay the tall cake on its side to cut it, and each slice is a perfect star. Before slicing, trim off the brown top and bottom edges of your cake. For this recipe it’s best to leave the panettone or pandoro slices out and unwrapped, under a tea towel, to dry overnight. This will prevent them from soaking up the egg mixture too quickly and becoming mushy.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk or cream, salt, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Dip each slice of panettone into the egg mixture so that both sides are saturated but the cake is not falling apart.Melt one tablespoon of butter in a large non-stick frying pan or griddle. Working a few slices at a time, fry the panettone over medium-high heat until golden brown, a little crispy and slightly firm to the touch, about three minutes each side. The inside should remain soft, but not mushy. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with remaining slices.

Serve with a spoonful of mascarpone cheese. Pass the maple syrup at the table.

Or you can try Giada De Laurentiss’ French Toast with Cinnamon Syrup.

3. Sandwich

Big City, Little Kitchen has Three Suggestions for Pannetone, including making toasted sandwiches from them:

Mini Panettone-and-Pear Sandwiches

4 thin slices panettone, crusts trimmed, each slice cut in quarters
1/4 cup Nutella
1/2 pear, thinly sliced
Butter, for frying

Spread each bread slice with Nutella. Lay 1 or 2 pear slices on 8 of the bread slices, trimming them to be flush with the bread’s edges. Top with remaining slices of bread. In a cast-iron pan, melt a pat of butter. When pan is hot, lay two of the sandwiches in the pan, frying until brown, 1 to 2 minutes, pressing down once or twice. Flip and fry another minute or so. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with coffee or tea (or maybe port?), and perhaps a wedge of brie. Yields 8 small sandwiches.

4. Toast (or Biscotti)

Epicurious has a very simple recipe from Bon Appétit

Cardamom and Orange Panettone Toast (6 servings)
1/2-inch-thick slices small panettone or four 1/2-inch-thick slices large panettone, cut crosswise in half
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
(You can also Substitute lemon peel for the orange peel, and cinnamon for the cardamom)Preheat oven to 400°F. Place panettone on on rimmed baking sheet and toast until light golden brown, turning once, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the butter and the grated peel in medium bowl and blend with electric mixer. Mix the sugar and cardamon together on a small plate.Remove panettone from oven, spread 1 side of each slice with butter mixture, then press into sugar mixture. Bake until topping bubbles, about 4 minutes.

If you slice the panettone finer and bake on low until crisp – you’ve just made yourself some very nice spicy Panettone Biscotti.

Hard or soft, I think they would be would be very nice dipped into Magia Bene Pasta’s Marscapone Sauce

1-3/4 cups whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 TB. flour
1 egg
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zestIn a small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the milk until bubbles form around the edge. Remove the pan from the heat. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and flour. Beat in the egg. Whisk in the hot milk. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce comes to a simmer. Cook 1 minute. Transfer the sauce to a small bowl. Stir in the mascarpone, vanilla, and lemon zest until smooth.

5. Cassata

Marco Debiasi has adapted a recipe from Tastes of Italia (May 2004). It serves 6.

Ingredients
1/2 pound ricotta cheese
1/8 cup powdered (confictioners/icing) sugar
1 tablespoons chopped, mixed, candied fruit or orange and citrus peel
1/8 cup chopped semisweet chocolate
1 tablespoons Amaretto
1/2 teaspoon orange zest 1
/8 cup toasted pine nuts 6-oz.
panettone leftover (about 1/3 panettone)
sweet dessert wine
powdered cocoaPreparation In a large bowl combine the ricotta cheese, sugar, candied fruit, chocolate, Amaretto, and orange zest and whip until smooth. Line a mold with plastic wrap. Cut the panettone leftover into strips about 1/2-inch thick. Very slightly wet into wine and line the mold with about two-third of the slices. Press together. Pour the ricotta mixture into the centre of the bowl. Top with remaining panettone slices. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Invert onto a platter and decorate with powdered cocoa and chopped chocolate.

You could also replace the ricotta with ice cream and leave in the freezer instead of the fridge. Mmmmm….

Or you could try the ABC’s mini ricotta puds with served with butter apples.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christmas!