Which Panettone tastes like mamma made it?

ALDO ZILLI on the Italian cakes taking over Xmas

NOT so long ago panettones were expensive and exotic. But in recent years supermarket aisles have become awash with these Italian Christmas cakes.

However, how do you pick the best? Italian chef Aldo Zilli put a selection of supermarket panettones to the test. Would any match up to his mamma’s recipe?

Gran Ducale Panettone Classico

500g, £3 (currently £2), Asda

BELLISSIMO! This looks truly authentic. No wonder — it’s made just outside Venice. And it tastes as good as it looks. It’s been filled properly, with a good proportion of fruit and peel (14 per cent sultanas and 7 per cent orange peel).

The peel is deliciously chunky — as it should be. And the dough is sweet and buttery. With panettone this cheap and delicious, even I’d be mad to make my own.

5/5

Classic Taste The Difference Panettone

750g, £10, Sainsbury’s

AS I unwrap it, I’m enveloped in the smell of an Italian Christmas: buttery dough and juicy sultanas. Growing up in Italy, my breakfast treat on Christmas day was homemade panettone and a huge latte. The crown is bouncy to the touch — so freshly baked — but the taste is disappointing. The peel content is just 3 per cent. For £10, I expect something more luxurious.

3/5

Maina Classic Panettone

500g, £4, Tesco

THOUGH there’s a reasonable amount of fruit (16.5 per cent sultanas and 4 per cent peel) it’s shrivelled, not juicy. Its dough should be extremely soft, sweet and buttery; this is as dry and crumbly as the bedding in my kids’ hamster cage, with a synthetic aftertaste. Yuck!

1/5

Christmas Classic Panettone

750g, £9(£ 7 while stocks last),

Waitrose

THE label says it’s rich in butter and flecked with raisins and candied orange peel. With a whopping 24 per cent raisins, I agree (I normally use 20 per cent). This would be good enough as the centrepiece of my Christmas Eve feast.

5/5

Taste the Difference Orange and Cranberry Panettone

750g, £10, Sainsbury’s

OH DEAR — this is horrid. When baked properly, a panettone is golden-brown on top and buttercup yellow inside. This is pale and insipid-looking and it sticks to the paper, so I suspect it hasn’t been baked properly. The orange is overpowering. No wonder — it’s packed with 12 per cent orange peel.

2/5

Favorina Panettone Cioccolato

800g, £3.99, Lidl

RATHER than sultanas and orange peel this has chocolate instead. The chocolate is surprisingly good quality for the price — not too sweet. But the dough is crumbly and dry. My kids would love it. But I’d rather they had a proper panettone with my own chocolate sauce than this.

3/5

Specially Selected Traditional Italian Panettone

500g, £2.99, Aldi

THERE’S not enough sugar and the fruit (14 per cent sultanas and 9 per cent orange and lemon peel) is on the dry side. The only way to save this is to butter a slice, sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top and then grill until lightly toasted. I’d rather pay a little extra for a truly delicious panettone.

1/5

Italian Panettone Classico

1kg, £15, Marks & Spencer

WOW! I love the white sugar sprinkles over the top. It looks like a giant Amaretti biscuit. As soon as I cut into this, I’m engulfed by Christmassy smells.

My treat every November was to help my mum make panettones — six at a time. I’d mix the dough while Mum soaked the fruit in dessert wine. once baked, she would wrap them in tea towels and hang them upside down on her washing line for four hours. That’s the secret to keeping the dough airy. M&S’s is a little light on fruit (12 per cent sultanas) but the dough is as moist as Mum’s. Magnificent!

4/5