Loison Panettone

For this holiday season, how about a nice panettone!  No, it's NOT a fruitcake.  And it's not just for Christmas celebrations, although its history relates to the winter season. This Italian confectionery is a sweet leavened fluffy bread that may contain candied fruit (raisins, figs, cherries, apricot, or pear), almonds, or chocolate drops.  Loaves may also be flavored with Prosecco wine, cinnamon or cloves. Really yummy and light.

On a recent trip to Italy, my husband and I visited the Loison Panettone factory.  Third generation baker, Dario Loison, gave us a tour of the factory, and samples of the bread - along with a nice glass of prosecco!  The business has prospered to date, in part because of the wonderful flavors and exquisite texture of the bread, but also out of the passion the Loison family has for its products.

Loison panettone is made only from high quality natural ingredients obtained from suppliers, local when available, that have been thoroughly vetted by the company. Natural yeast is used in the starter, which gives the bread a bit of a sourdough taste and complements the sweetness of the other ingredients. Raisons are soaked in late harvest wine. The entire process from mixing the starter to baking takes 3-4 days.  The largest loaves made, 1 kilogram or 22 pounds, take 6 hours to bake, although most customers purchase the smaller loaves.

The origins of panettone are a bit sketchy. Milan is considered the birthplace of this sweet bread from the late 1800's, although one story goes back to ancient Roman times when honey was used to sweeten loaves of bread.  As one of the rites of the Winter Solstice (December 21st) and Christmas, both pagans and Christians made panettone as a good luck charm for the New Year. Early loaves were made with honey, dried fruit and nuts, all archaic symbols of lasting wealth. Later, with the influence of the Arabs, loaves were flavored with orange and citron peel.

In the late 1800's, two Milanese men started the first bakeries that would become the larger factories during the rise of industrialization and the beginnings of mass marketing.  Dario Loison's grandfather Tranquilllo opened a bakery in 1938 near Vicenza to make bread and simple holiday treats.  Tranquillo's son Alessandro further grew the bakery specializing in confectionery and panettone. Dario entered the family business in 1992, and moved the production to a small factory - small enough to allow for quick changes in trends and maintain the quality of the family bakery, but large enough to meet the worldwide demand of this sweet holiday treat.

To order a panettone for yourself, go to www.loison.com for a list of retailers in the U.S. or email them directly at loison@loison.com.  Because of the natural ingredients used, the loaves can last up to 6 months, and still taste as fresh as the day they were baked.