Big City, Little Kitchen

I love panettone so much; at my Italian grocery store, it’s available year-round, but it’s so quintessentially Christmas that it doesn’t seem right to buy one before December.  It’s like a fruitcake that is buttery, fluffy, and actually tastes good.  The good news is that if you exercise your options, it won’t get old come December 26.  Just a few possibilities:  chop up a loaf and bake it into a bread pudding spiked with orange liquer; soak slices in an egg-and-milk mixture and fry up for French toast; sandwich thin slices with pears and Nutella, then crisp the exterior on a griddle. 

Panettone Bread Pudding (adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’s recipe)

• 1 panettone, cut into 1″ cubes
• 7 extra-large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier, or other orange liquer
• Zest of one orange

Butter a 13″x9″ baking dish; spread the panettone cubes evenly in the dish. 

In a medium-sized bowl, rub the orange zest into the sugar.  In  a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, sugar and zest, and Grand Marnier until well-combined.  Pour mixture over the panettone cubes, and press the cubes down with a spatula, causing them to absorb some of the liquid.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Let bread-and-custard mixture sit for 30 minutes; visit it occasionally to press the bread down into the custard. 

Bake on bottom rack for 50 to 60 minutes, or until top is golden-brown and springs back when touched (add 20 to 30 minutes to baking time if your oven is tiny, like mine).  Let cool for at least 3 hours (overnight is even better).  Serve with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder, or a blob of creme fraiche and chocolate shavings.   Serves 8 to 10.

Panettone French Toast

• 4 thick slices panettone (3/4″ to 1″)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tb sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (rum extract would be excellent here too)
• Butter, for frying

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Have a baking sheet ready.  Whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl; pour into a baking dish.  Melt a pat of butter in a cast-iron frying pan over medium heat.  Dip a slice into the mixture, pausing so that each side can absorb some liquid.  Gently lay the slice into the buttered pan, and flip after 2 minutes; cook for an additional 2 minutes on the other side.  Place the slice on baking sheet, and put sheet in oven.  Repeat process with remaining slices, adding them to the baking sheet and keeping them warm in the oven until ready to serve.  Slice each one in half diagonally, dust with powdered sugar, and maple syrup and fruit, if desired.  Serves 4.

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.