Pandoro symbolizes Christmas in Italy like few other desserts (except for its sister cake, panettone, from Milan). It even looks like a Christmas tree—a towering, star-shaped cake topped with pastry cream, fresh berries and snow-white powdered sugar. It originates from the northern Italian town of Verona, the romantic city made famous by Romeo and Juliet.
Like panettone, pandoro (meaning literally, "golden bread") has a light, fluffy, yeast-risen golden interior and a brown outer surface. However, unlike panettone, it does not contain candied fruit or raisins, which makes it the preferred Christmas cake of many.
These days, commercial versions often contain some sort of filling, such as limoncello or chocolate cream. Most Italians prefer to buy commercially produced pandoro from their local baker or supermarket as it is a difficult and time-consuming to make, requiring four separate lengthy risings and three resting periods after being rolled out. If you are an accomplished and devoted baker, however, making it at home can be quite rewarding.
Today Ms, Cillo's Italian 2 students spent their class in the culinary art's kitchen. preparing the most delicious pastry cream, assembled and decorated their own panadoro Christmas cakes.
Pastry Cream
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Pinch of kosher salt
2 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups mascarpone cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup; add to saucepan along with butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil 1 minute, still whisking; then remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface of cream to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth.
Fold about 2 cups of mascarpone cheese into pastry cream using whisk attachment on stand mixer.
Using a serrated knife, cut the panadoro in about four horizontal even layers.
Generously cover each layer with pastry cream using an offset spatula.
Place each layer of the panadoro so it creates a tree effect.
With a star tip on a pastry bag, pipe decorative flowers on each exposed tip.Decorate with fresh raspberries and fresh rosemary sprigs.
Sprinkle entire cake with powdered sugar.
Serve immediately.
BUON NATALE!
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