Where to Buy Panettone & Pandoro Italian Christmas Bread in Singapore? What is the Difference?

Recently, buddy was obsessed with traditional Italian Panettone & Pandoro bread and I caught the craziness from him. Now I don't know who is more nuts about these delicious breads. Gifting and eating panettone & pandoro is a revered Italian holiday ritual.

Pandoro is shaped like a mountain and dusted with icing sugar to look like the snow covered Italian Alps during winter.

Pandoro dough is made by mixing lievito madre or mother yeast with flour, sugar, butter and eggs which give traditional pandoro its signature luscious gold-yellow colour.

Lievito madre yeast has no sour taste unlike other sourdough starters, hence pandoro bread tastes buttery, eggy, sweet. I call it sweet gold.

Panettone has the same buttery eggy dough but spiked with candied fruits and raisins.

The classic panettone is a 1 kg size, cupola shaped bread but it now comes in many shapes and sizes like octagons, stars etc., and even this popular duck.

No, this is not a cushion chair but a 10 kg panettone enough for 100 servings 😮

The Italian tradition of eating pandoro and panetonne bread during Christmas has spread around the world with the Italian community including in Singapore. More and more non Italians are also appreciating the panetonne and pandoro culture especially during Christmas.

During Christmas, some supermarkets, bakeries and hotels in Singapore deck their shelves with their selection of house made or imported panettone and pandoro.

When you unwrap a panettone you will first smell a sweet buttery eggy fruity fragrance from candied fruits.

In the mouth, panettone feels like fluffy bread that is moist with butter and eggs. Depending on the type of candied fruits (only Mediterranean citrus will do) or fruit custard added to the bread, there will be additional layers of flavours and fragrances.

I was wrong. This was my first panettone. It may feel like a sponge cake to the uninitiated but from its soft-chewy texture we'll soon realise that panettone is actually a bread.

This famous duck panettone has orange custard which gives the buttery sweet eggy bread a slight citrusy zest. Nice.

The Italians take their panettone heritage very seriously. There are even strictly enforced laws that stipulate that authentic panettone must have at least 20% candied fruit, 16% butter, and eggs must contain 40% yolk. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

After baking, panettone and pandoro are traditionally hung upside down to rest as otherwise the bread made using lievito madre yeast will fall flat, collapsing on itself. The process of making a panettone bread the traditional way takes about 3 days. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Panettone originates from Milan, the capital of Milano province in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy. (Map courtesy of Wikipedia.)

First mention of panettone in Milan was more than 550 years ago in the 1470s. Since that time, Milanese families used "pan de ton" or "luxurious bread" to break bread together during Christmas. In Italy, no Christmas dinner is complete without closing with a panettone or pandoro or often both. (Image of Milan courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Traditionally, part of the cake is eaten straight out of the wrapping, another portion toasted and the remainder kept to be eaten on 3rd February (Saint Blaise Day) next year. 

According to legend, Saint Blaise saved a boy choking on a fish bone by making him swallow a piece of bread. So, panettone is eaten on 3rd Feb in his honour and the custom is believed to bring good health, especially of the respiratory system.

Of the food lores surrounding the creation of panettone, my favourite is the story of Ughetto degli Atellani, a Milanese nobleman who fell in love with Adalgisa, daughter of a baker.

Ughetto disguised himself as a baker’s boy and made a sweet bread filled with raisins, candied orange and other citrus peel. The bread was so good that it won Adalgisa’s heart. Ughetto and Adalgisa lived happily ever after and we have panettone to this day 😄

Pandoro comes from Verona city in Italy's Veneto region which like Lombardy is also in the Italian Alps. Pandoro has a longer history than panettone, appearing on the tables of wealthy Venetians as early as 500 AD.

There have been proposals to submit Panettone for UNESCO Intangible World Cultural Heritage inscription. My best wishes and hope that Panettone achieve the well deserved recognition soon.

So far this year, I have tried nine pandoro and panettone from various supermarkets, bakeries and hotels in Singapore. Quality varies from good to disappointing.

🎄 Jupiter 57 (importer & distributor of Italian bakes & confectionaries ☎ 9137 6564) has the best range and quality in Singapore to my knowledge so far. My panettone and pandoro adventure have only just began. I want to go to Milan and Verona 😄

Disclaimer: We bought and paid for all the panettone and pandoro tasted. We are just sharing our joy and learning journey.

There is a perennial debate on which is better? Panettone vs pandoro. Taste is really subjective. From my limited exposure, I personally like pandoro more. Pandoro is sort of "panettone kosong" i.e. sans candied fruit and raisin.

This year my favourite panettone was from Puteca Abate which is a casual Italian restaurant / deli at Keong Saik Street. They are good for spaghetti, panini, pizza, pastries and cakes. They also have a small fine foods section and they have limited edition artisanal panettone from Rustichella d'Abruzzo. To check on availability you can reach them via Puteca Abate Facebook page.

If you like to try a locally made artisanal panettone, you can get it from Bakery Brera & Fine Foods at block 8, Empress Road (near Farrer Road MRT station) ☎ 6492 5428.

More about Bakery Brera & Fine Foods 👈 click

Wishing you a Merry Christmas.

One minute panettone primer.

Date: 2 Dec 2020