If you’ve yet to try panettone, it’s certainly time you did. Ubiquitous throughout Italy for generations, panettone is an ingenious mashup of bread and cake. What could be better?
Eaten during the Christmas season, this brioche-like concoction is typically made with sourdough starter, absurd quantities of butter, vanilla, egg yolks, sugar and, of course, a little flour. Unlike traditional bread or brioche or challah, panettone recipes can consist of as much as 70% liquid ingredients, which makes it a finicky dough that is devilishly difficult to produce but well worth the effort. The flip side is that, when made right, the result can be glorious — a velvety cloud of airy dough redolent of vanilla and sugar with a soft but even, open crumb.
The most traditional version (and the declared favorite of many of the bakers we spoke to) is embedded with jewels of sweet, candied fruit. That is where the similarity to the often-mocked fruitcake ends. Fruitcake is closer to cinderblock compared with the ethereal lightness of a well-made panettone.
Credit: anna.q/Shutterstock
What’s So Great About Panettone?
Panettone has been a staple of Italian tables for decades. What originated long ago as an artisanal food became mass-produced during the post World War II years, and could eventually be found in any grocery store, albeit often as a bland, industrial version of its original incarnation. In recent years, ambitious artisans — in Italy and beyond — have seized on this dish as a holy grail of baking due to its incredibly challenging baking process as well as its amazing potential for showcasing new flavor combinations.
Karlo Vulin, founder and master baker at Boogie Bakery in Croatia, has labored for more than five years to perfect that process and, despite spectacular results, still feels like he has more work to do. “We still don’t fully understand how it works,” he shared. “The structure of the dough is so complex that we follow 25 separate steps over nearly four days to make each batch and even then, they don’t always come out right. It can be heartbreaking.” The dough is so full of butter that he cools the panettone “upside down” on custom racks. “Otherwise they would collapse.”
Typically, panettone goes on sale in fall and is meant to be consumed during the Christmas holiday season. At Easter, its cousin, the Colomba, often shaped in the form of Dove, takes center stage. Thanks to the increasing international popularity of this dish and the explosion of emerging innovative flavors (Matcha, Brownie, Limoncello), panettone is slowly becoming available throughout the year.
What’s the Best Way to Eat Panettone?
Traditionalists prefer to keep things simple — and for good reason. A good-quality panettone is so packed with the flavors of vanilla and fruit to be rich enough as is and really doesn’t need any embellishment. Several makers, though, suggest warming it in the oven for 10 minutes or so at 150ºF to 200ºF to gently release its aromas and allow the natural yeasty flavors and the copious butter to “bloom.”
Panettone is a traditionally communal food, typically served sliced, never torn, best shared around the holiday table. If you want to gild the lily, try it with a scoop of gelato or use leftovers as the base for an over-the-top French Toast.
Most quality panettone have a shelf life of two to three months from time of purchase. Once opened, whatever portion that hasn’t been eaten should be returned to the bag and sealed tightly to retain freshness. Never put it in the fridge, or it will dry out. An open panettone lasts about a week assuming you haven’t snuck out in the middle of the night to finish it. Which you will.
How to Pick Out the Best Panettone
Regardless of price, there are the hallmarks of a great panettone:
Smell: More than two-thirds of your panettone is made of butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla. The better the quality of those ingredients, the more delicious and fragrant the panettone. Those alluring aromas should hit your nose the moment you open the package.
Structure: A proper panettone should be light with plenty of small evenly distributed air pockets. It should pull apart easily, like cotton candy with a bit of heft. A heavy or dense panettone is a sign of a hastily made or industrially produced one. You’re looking for a cloud, not a brick.
Taste: Because panettone straddles both bread and cake, the objective of the best bakers is a delicate flavor that allows its exceptional ingredients to shine and not drown each other out. The individual notes of vanilla, butter, sugar, and yeast should all be evident along with whatever flavors (fruit, chocolate, etc.) might be mixed in.
A Few of Our Favorite Panettones
While there is no shortage of terrific panettone to choose from, our panel of tasters sacrificed, working hard tasting as many as they could to recommend a few standouts with you.
Classic Panettone
Classic Panettone
Olivieri 1882
$105
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1. Olivieri 1882
A fifth-generation family-run company, Olivieri is stretching the definition of what a panettone can be by offering nearly 20 innovative flavors including exotic limited-editions like Mixed Berries with Vanilla & Maple Syrup as well as traditional fruit, Apricot and Salted Caramel, and aromatic Rhum and Dark Chocolate. Now run by brothers Andrea and Nicola, the company is devoted to elevating the perception of panettone and turning this iconic dessert into a global phenomenon. Each one comes in a distinctive box or gift tin starkly emblazoned in black and white with the company’s iconic logo.
Excellence, though, comes at a price. Olivieri’s premium panettone start at $105, plus shipping. The company is offering The Kitchn readers an exclusive 15% off on purchases over $30 through October 7, 2026. Enter the coupon code KITCHN2025 at checkout.
Giusti Panettone Italian Cake
Giusti Panettone Italian Cake
Amazon
$55
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2. Giusti
Based in Modena, Italy, Giusti is best known for award-winning balsamic vinegars that one family has been producing for over 400 years across 17 continuous generations. The current leadership was inspired to pair its signature balsamic and infuse it into a premium panettone. It is a match made in heaven.
This year, the recipe has been upgraded: The dough is first laced with copious amounts of the sweet, syrupy vinegar, then studded with balsamic-soaked raisins and minced black cherry. It is a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and umami with a slightly drier finish than some other brands. With its gold foil accents and corded handles, the Giusti Box whispers luxury.
Pasticceria Filippi Classic Panettone
Pasticceria Filippi Classic Panettone
Market Hall Foods
$58
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3. Filippi
The Filippi family has been making panettone using the same pasta madre (mother starter) for over 40 years. This leavener gives the panettone its distinctive “cloudlike” texture and its rich flavor comes from assorted premium ingredients including French Normandy butter, free-range eggs, and local honey. After proofing for 24 hours, the dough is scented with whole bourbon vanilla beans before baking.
Panettone – Mandarin & White Chocolate
Panettone – Mandarin & White Chocolate
Boogie Lab
$69
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4. Boogie Bakery
Not all great panettone comes from Italy. Karlo, an award-winning bread maker from Croatia, takes great pride in both his product and process, which he happily compares to the best of Italy. His toweringly high panettone is made from naturally fermented sourdough starter and he deploys AI to continuously monitor the dough over the four-day baking process. In addition to classic fruit panettone, Boogie offers fun, irreverent flavors like Apple Pie, Chocolate, a sold-out Pistachio and Lemon, and a fantastic Mandarin and White Chocolate made with fragrant fruit grown alongside the Adriatic Coast.
Presented in a crimson box cube wrapped in golden ribbon, each one is a welcome indulgence flooding your nostrils with vanilla and butter as you upwrap it. They start at $69, plus shipping.
What’s your favorite panettone brand? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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