Panettone Bread from Whole Foods: Product Review

For many years, our family has enjoyed an exquisite Italian baked item known as panettone for the holiday season. Each year the tradition has become more entrenched and now our daughter has taken up the mantle and gives us the panettone bread/cake each Christmas season. Our daughter particularly enjoys the festive treat and we look forward to her annual holiday gift of the Panettone bread/cake. We were first introduced to this popular Italian Christmas delicacy nearly twenty years ago when she was a high school student employed in the candy department of a large retail department store. She gave us a panettone cake that Christmas and we have been hooked on it since that time. It is tempting to refer to Panettone as a bread or cake and we interchangeably refer to Panettone as a bread and as a cake. To be politically correct, it probably is classified as a bread.

Origin

Legend has it that panettone originated with a specially formulated recipe for a bread by Antonio, a poor Italian baker who needed money to finance a dowry for his daughter's marriage to a rich nobleman. Legend states that the bread was a huge success and became known as Pan de Tonio. Whether myth or truth, panettone cake is a holiday favorite! Whole Foods distributes the cake in its supermarkets. We were given the 16 ounce package which contains approximately nine servings, depending of course on the width of the slices. The panettone was wrapped in a cellophane wrapping to protect against dryness. The calories were 170 and sodium was at a low 3 %. Transfat was 0 mg and total fat was listed at 5 mg. According to the ingredients label, the panettone cake contains soft wheat flour, raisins, butter, sugar, candied orange peel as well as other ingredients which make for a deliciously light, airy cake. The cake texture is not like a usual cake, The texture can be described as being like "spun cotton" which accounts for its light, airy texture. It is not a "heavy" cake. The Panettone cake is a product of Italy and is available for a limited time during the holiday season.

Serving Suggestions

Slice the panettone and serve with coffee, tea or hot chocolate for a delicious breakfast treat. To make it more of a dessert, you can serve with ice cream or fruit. My husband slices a piece and then cuts the slice into smaller, bite size pieces making for a lovely serving display. Panettone is not too sweet and not too bland so it can be used as a breakfast bread or elegant dessert.

Serve panettone on a gaily decorated tray with an assortment of other pastries and fruit for an appetizer or after dinner dessert. Serving possibilities are limitless; let your culinary creativity conjure up additional serving suggestions.

For the next Christmas season, mark your calendar to check out Whole Foods for Panettone. You may find smaller size packages of Panettone will make an excellent stocking stuffer or tasty treat for that Secret Santa pal! We give a two thumbs up for the Panettone distributed by Whole Foods.