Kitchen Recipe Collection
Italian Pandoro
Verona's 'Golden Bread'. A towering, eight-pointed star-shaped Christmas cake. Incredibly buttery, intensely vanilla-scented, and lacking any dried fruit, heavily dusted with powdered sugar.
- Prep
- 2880 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Total
- 2930 min
- Servings
- 10
- Difficulty
- very hard
- Cuisine
- italian
Ingredients
Scaled for 10 servings
- pasta madre (sourdough starter) or active yeast
- strong flour
- butter (massive amounts, high quality)
- eggs and egg yolks
- sugar
- vanilla bean (generous amount)
- cocoa butter
- powdered sugar (for dusting)
Equipment
- Star-shaped Pandoro mold (aluminum)
- Stand mixer
Instructions
- 1
Starter Prep
Just like Panettone, Pandoro requires a highly active, non-acidic pasta madre (starter), refreshed multiple times.
- 2
First Dough
Mix starter, flour, sugar, eggs, and a portion of butter. Knead until strong. Let rise until tripled in volume (10-12 hours).
- 3
Vanilla Emulsion
Prepare a paste of softened butter, cocoa butter, sugar, and the seeds of several vanilla beans. This provides the signature flavor.
- 4
Second Dough
Deflate the first dough. Add remaining flour, sugar, and eggs. Knead until extremely elastic.
- 5
Incorporate Emulsion
Slowly add the vanilla-butter emulsion to the dough. It will become incredibly soft and silky.
- 6
Shaping
Round the dough tightly (pirlatura). Place it into a heavily buttered, star-shaped Pandoro mold.
- 7
Final Proof
Let rise in a warm environment until the dome of the dough reaches the top edge of the mold (6-8 hours).
- 8
Bake
Bake at 325°F (160°C) until golden brown and the internal temperature is 195°F (90°C).
- 9
Cool
Unlike Panettone, Pandoro does NOT need to be hung upside down. Let it cool in the mold for 30 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack.
- 10
The Snow Effect
Before serving, place the Pandoro in a plastic bag with a massive amount of vanilla powdered sugar and shake vigorously to coat it completely like snow.
Cooking Tips
- Pandoro has a higher butter content than Panettone. Sometimes the dough is laminated (like croissants) during the final stage to create an even flakier texture.
- The quality of the butter and vanilla dictates the entire flavor of the cake.
Variations
- Stuffed Pandoro: Sliced horizontally into star layers, rotated, and filled with mascarpone cream to look like a Christmas tree.
Chef's Notes & Storage
- The fierce rival to Panettone during Italian Christmas. Pandoro is generally preferred by those who dislike candied fruit and raisins.
Nutrition Estimate
420 calories · 7g protein · 45g carbs · 24g fat · 1g fiber per serving
